Open Society

You crash and you keep crashing.

Autistic and neurodivergent rest is different from neurotypical rest. The recommended recovery strategies for the majority of neurotypical people who are in burnout (and often also experiencing depression) are to try to engage more with others, to try and do more exercise, have a better diet, to try and join in more with the group activities and to generally be more active and engaged in society. This doesn’t work if you are autistic. Such strategies have left me with less capacity and a feeling that I am falling deeper and deeper into a void and becoming even more disembodied and disconnected, it has left me with even less energy to function and get through life. Autistic ways of recovering typically involve giving yourself time and space to be yourself, to stim more, to engage in your monotropic interests, and to create more flexibility in your life so you can embrace your own autistic way of communicating and socialising rather than trying to ‘fit in’ to others' expectations. Research led by neurodivergent teams is especially valuable in exploring ways to support those experiencing burnout. Research led by people who are also autistic or otherwise neurodivergent adds to the narrative of recognising and validating the inner experience of autistic people.

If you are experiencing burnout, a deeper understanding of autism and learning to embrace your own authentic autistic identity can provide ways to help give your body and mind authentic and meaningful ways to rest, recharge and recover. Learning more about theories such as monotropism (Murray, 2005), discovering more about the sensory system and how an understanding of the interoception system works is vital and can help enormously; it can bring a much-needed sense of meaning to life.

The neurodivergent community offer a safe space where the DEEP double empathy problem is dissolved and where love and friendship can flourish.

If schools would stop stressing kids out as they do, and stop preventing them from being kids, our kids wouldn’t need so much therapy!

Would it be too cynical for me to suggest that one reason we look to drugs, therapy, and SEL programs rather than play to solve kids’ problems is because many adults make money from drugs, therapy, and SEL courses, but nobody makes money from play?

What we need is LESS school, not more, and we need to restore long recesses and other opportunities for play and fun in school. Kids need more time to play and just be kids, both in and out of school. Mother Nature designed kids to play, explore, and socialize freely with other kids, without adult intervention, because that is how kids develop the skills, confidence, and attitudes that are necessary for mental health and overall wellbeing, as I and colleagues described, with multiple lines of evidence, in this article published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

It is only within nurturing, small ecologies of care beyond the human, that we can (re)discover our faith in humanity and our faith in the healing powers of the big cycle of life, which is far beyond human comprehensibility.