Team of educators & neurodivergent experts empowering school systems to celebrate neurodiversity & transform inclusive practices.
- Tweets436
- Following288
- Followers170
- Likes604
ALT Judith Heumann in doctorate gown
ALT Judy and Samuel in their wheelchairs smiling to camera. Judy is wearing a red shirt with purple shawl and Samuel is wearing a blue checkered button down shirt. Behind them is a brown couch, plants, and a coffee table.
ALT Understanding meltdowns and shutdowns. A 5 page comic about meltdowns and shutdowns. The author introduces the comic, and points to a panel below where an autistic person is shouting and looking distressed. The author says ‘When some people see an autistic meltdown in public, they can end up thinking things like this:’ In the panel below, people are staring at the autistic person. One person rolls their eyes and says ‘They’re just making a scene to get attention.’ Another person looks scared and thinks ‘Are they going to hurt me?’ Another person looks fed up and says ‘They just need to learn how to control themselves.’ In the next panel, the author says ‘In reality though, meltdowns happen for many reasons...and they are not something we can control’. In the last panel, the autistic person from earlier is now quiet and looking guilty. They are enveloped in an empty space. ‘In fact, they are something many autistic people end up feeling guilty about afterwards’.
ALT ‘For me, a meltdown/shutdown is the result of things built up over a few days…’ Examples are shown author getting overwhelmed by sensory overload and going somewhere new. ‘It’s not always negative things that trigger it, as it’s mainly due to my body being over stimulated.’ The author is overwhelmed with speech bubbles as they talk with friends, they get intense feelings from being excited. In the next panel the author looks sick, the examples radiate around them. ‘I start to feel overwhelmed and disorientated. My body starts to shake, I feel unwell and I find it hard to talk, or hear people.’ The author looks at their shaking hands, they feel separate from what’s happening to their body. In the next panel, the author is lying down and shaking, unable to talk for hours. The next day, the author is in bed and has a headache. ‘Unlike panic attacks, the ‘flight or fight’ response doesnt go away once the ‘danger’ is over. It lasts for hours, and I feel exhausted for about a day afterwards'
ALT ‘There are various reasons someone might have a meltdown/shutdown, and it’s something that can build up over hours, days, or even months. Sometimes it’s due to sensory overload.’ An example is shown of the author getting overwhelmed with different experiences. ‘If people have Alexithymia and struggle to recognise/regulate emotions, the emotions can become overwhelming.’ A confused person has lots of words for emotions swirling around them, but the words are jumbled up and hard to decipher. ‘Some people are forced by others to control how they act, and so are unable to release built up energy in healthier ways.’ A person sits very still in spite of being surrounded by intense energy. They think: ‘Sit still. Dont look weird. Dont stim.’ ‘Not all meltdowns look like angry outbursts, you might not even realise someone is having one.’ Some examples are shown of less ‘typical’ meltdowns. Someone crying, someone self-harming, someone going very quiet.
ALT A black and white photo of demonstrators outside the San Fransisco HEW office building. In front of the group is Judy Heumann, a white woman who uses a wheelchair with short brown hair wearing glasses and a winter jacket with a “Sign 504” button pin. She is holding a sign that reads “NO MORE NEGOTIATION Sign 504.” To the left is Kitty Cone, a white woman who uses a wheelchair with short curly brown hair wearing glasses and a sweater. She is holding a sign that reads “OUR BIGGEST HANDICAP IS CALIFANO.” There are various other people around them holding signs and a mega phone.