A white woman is laying on her stomach on a bed. Her blond hair is partially covering her face and she is wearing a white shirt with black stripes. She is laying on a bed covered with white blankets and there is a grey pillow behind her.

Like many autistics I first had my “I think I might be autistic” moment when I found myself deep in severe autistic burnout. I had just helped lead an intensive online retreat on Zoom for four days. I was bone dreary exhausted, walking from my bedroom to the kitchen felt like I was running a Marathon. I had no energy to do “simple” tasks like cooking or showering. I remembered thinking “this doesn’t feel like something normal” and after some time googling realizing that I was experiencing autistic burnout.

After many experiences of being in the autistic burnout trenches, I’ve learned a lot about autistic burnout-both recovery, how to support myself in the middle of burnout and also how to pay attention to what my autistic burnout is telling me. I think sometimes when we get into autistic burnout there can be feelings of desperation as we ask ourselves “how long will I be in this burnout?” Which makes so much sense. Autistic burnout impacts both our physical health and our mental health. Being in autistic burnout long term has very real consequences on our quality of life. Which is why I believe we need to approach autistic burnout recovery with three specific types of support:

Practical: What are the practical things we need to do in order to support ourselves during autistic burnout. Often this might include things like: resting, doing less, unmasking more, getting support with things that are disabling.
Deep work: Unpacking internalized ableism, unmasking work, creating autistic boundaries, autistic centered trauma resolution.
Designing a life that is supportive for your autistic self: Want to know the best way to prevent autistic burnout? Create a life that’s supportive and accessible for your autistic self.

The best autistic recovery involves all 3: practical + deep work + creating an autistic supportive life. Often I see education on autistic burnout involve only practical tips and I think that is why us autistic can sometimes struggle so much. Yes, obviously resting is such an important part of healing from autistic burnout and so many of us have a complicated relationship with rest (shout out to capitalism) and/or don’t have the privilege to rest (because again capitalism.) So practical advice & tips need to be combined with deep work and very real changes-because recovery from autistic burnout and then having the “Oh shit, I’m in autistic burnout again” realization is not a fun pattern to be in.

It’s important to remember that autistic burnout is an emergency response from your body, it’s your body telling you “SOS, I can’t do this anymore.” This is why even though we need the combination of practical+deep work+creating an autistic supportive life-we also need to focus on the most pressing needs first. Which are often practical support. Think of it like if your ship shipwrecked and you’re stranded in the ocean and trying not to drown. That’s traumatic as hell-but you probably would rather I throw you a life jacket and raft instead of inviting you to do some trauma resolution. Once you’re safe, dry and have rested-then it might feel really supportive to do some trauma healing around that traumatic experience. Same thing with autistic burnout, we want to give you the practical tools first and then give you the deeper tools & practices when there’s more capacity.

Image description: Over a pink background there is a title that reads “3 Tips For Autistic Burnout Recovery.” There is a graphic image of a woman resting in bed, pink headphones and a “please do not disturb sign.” Under each image there is a tip for autistic burnout recovery divided into the categories of: rest, take breaks and do the bare minimum. At the bottom of the graphic is the website www.tiffany-landry.com

Here are my 3 favorite autistic burnout tools:

1.) Rest & restorative activities. Yes, rest can sometimes feel hard or even impossible. What we want to do is start to rest by 2% more-that sounds easy, right? This could include: sleeping, napping, reading, sunbathing with your cats, staring into space, watching a favorite show, stretching your body. Aim for different types of rest that feel restorative.

Personal example: I realized that even though binge watching a show is a great way to distract & self soothe my burnt out self-it actually isn’t restorative. What IS restorative is reading books before bed.

2.) Take breaks throughout the day.

One of my favorite tools are breaks for my autistic self. Breaks can be sensory breaks, stimming breaks, special interest breaks, autistic joy breaks, nervous system breaks. Take 5-15 minutes to take a break and notice if that feels supportive for your autistic burnout.

Personal example: I take 10-15 minute sensory breaks 2-3 times a day by laying on a heating pad, headphones on and resting my eyes. Sometimes I amp it up with a weighted plushie or use a weighted eye pillow on my eyes.

3.) Do the bare minimum.

By doing the bare minimum I mean honoring the fact that you are in autistic burnout, probably have very few spoons (or perhaps negative spoons) and need to focus on your own recovery. That means doing less. This could mean doing your job but not going above and beyond. Perhaps identifying things you really struggle doing and brainstorming ways you can make them easier. If going to the grocery store is sensory overwhelming, maybe getting food delivered. If you have no social battery, maybe taking a break from socializing.

Personal example: Things I’ve done to support my autistic self are: getting meals delivered, taking tech and social media breaks, taking time off from work, letting friends know I won’t be able to text for awhile, giving myself permission to clean in a “good enough” way.

4.) Make space for things that feel good.

Autistic burnout sucks. It feels hard, there’s the extreme exhaustion, our autism can feel extra spicy and the worry of “how long will this last?” Which is why it’s important to make space for things that feel good, for autistic joy, for stimming, for special interests, for things that feel soothing. Sometimes our autistic burnout likes to team up with depression to make life extra spicy, which means we might have to look for the tiniest ways to feel good. Maybe that’s 15 minutes with your special interest, patting a pet, eating a yummy meal or laughing at funny memes. Making time for things that feel good is an important part of supporting yourself in autistic burnout.

With any of these practical tips, I invite you to do the smallest doable step. You might ask yourself “what is the smallest doable step I can take?” The smallest doable step is enough-in fact it’s actually great and worthy of celebrating. Remember that each small doable steps adds up and supports you and your autistic self. If you’d like more support on autistic burnout recovery I invite you to purchase my 52 fillable workbook on autistic burnout recovery.

The information contained in this blog post is for general educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical or mental health advice. The information provided is not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation. We expressly recommend that you seek advice from a professional familiar with your specific situation.