autism meltdown advice

[opal cosmos]

i’ve never had a meltdown from changes in plans before (am currently having one/it’s maybe going away - i have no clue how my brain is put together enough to type this) it’s usually from being overstimulated by sensory input which i know how to deal with when it happens but i don’t know how to make this better because i can’t un-change my plans so i’m just scream crying in a car until it goes away i guess? anyways does anyone have advice/can someone tell me what they do because i have no idea what to do

[proud thorn]

Hey, I’m new to this too, but I have a few tricks that work with me. So first I just let myself feel all the emotions that are piling up, I let it all out. But, at the same time, when you feel like you’ve done enough of that, it’s probably nice to look at your surroundings and look for things to ground yourself. Search for things to grab and squeeze, maybe listen to a nice song or something calming like that. The main focus right now is to go through the meltdown and calm you down, then you can deal with the change in plans and make new plans around that.

[opal cosmos]

i wish i saw this when it was still happening :/ still, thank you so much for your advice and i’ll definitely try to keep it in mind! that is kind of what i did eventually, i watched some people walking outside and listened to music (and i know it’s not great but some of my slightly self destructive stims are very helpful with grounding - i should really get some little ouchies or something similar) and it worked after like 30 minutes

[steep lava]

Hey! This is something I struggle with a lot too and I'm not the best at dealing with it but I can offer things that help for me. First things first you have to calm down in the moment. There might be nothing you can do about the plans but there are things you can do about the meltdown. It differs from situation and surroundings but the best thing I do is reducing sensory input which I have no doubt you'll have heard haha. Treat it like a migraine- dim, cool rooms, comfort shows, etc. Fidgets can help a lot with painful stimming and as you said some form of ouchie would be great. Remind yourself the 'why' of this feeling doesn't matter now. You're not stupid or lesser than anyone else for feeling this way- autism is a disability and it makes things harder and that doesn't mean you're any more incapable. This feeling will pass. Let yourself be a bit less functioning for however long it will take you to recover. Sometimes after meltdowns I cant change clothes or get food or do much independently and that is okay- a meltdown is a big and crazily stressful thing. I know this reply is late so it won't help with the one from yesterday but here is your reminder to be gentle with yourself today! I really hope you're feeling a little better and sorry I know this is probably not very helpful. Good luck ❤️

[opal cosmos]

it is really helpful actually! i’ll keep it in mind for next time, thank you so much. i was in a car when it happened the other day so there wasn’t much i could do by way of reducing sensory input but i forgot that watching a comfort show was an option and that definitely has helped me in the past both during and after a meltdown. and thank you for the reminder to be gentler to myself, i really needed it because i tend to be really mean to myself about having meltdowns even though it’s totally out of my control.