Tag: sensory overload

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A photo of 5 books on a rainbow background: Workplace Neurodiversity Diversity Rising by Lyric Rivera (a purple book with a pink brain on the cover), Autism Identity and Me: A Parent and Professional Guide Rebecca Duffus with Lyric Rivera (a grey book with a circle of rainbow dots around it), Autism Identity and me, a Practical Workbook to Empower Autistic Children and Young People Age 10+ (A purple book with a rainbow of circles around it), Neurodivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal by Lyric Rivera (a teal book with a pink brain on the cover), and one that is COMING SOON - Autism Identity and Me: A Practical Workbook to Empower Autistic Adults by Rebecca Duffus and Lyric Rivera (a purple book with a rainbow lotus flower on the cover).

It’s Not a Tantrum: What Actually Happens During an Autistic Meltdown

Lyric Holmans

Question for my Autistic readers: Do you have, or have you ever had, a meltdown? If so, how would you describe them to other people? Also, what would you like people to know about them?

What IS an Autistic meltdown?

When an Autistic person has a meltdown, it is an involuntary nervous system response to compounding environmental or internal stressors. Continue reading It’s Not a Tantrum: What Actually Happens During an Autistic Meltdown

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Photo of Lyric from several years ago, when they had short green hair, posing in front of a vibrant rainbow wing mural outdoors. They’re wearing purple ankle boots, dark blue jeans, a grey tank-top with the word ‘Autistic’ on it in a rainbow font, and a black leather jacket, while standing in a power pose.

Autistic Burnout – The ‘Mystery Illness’ That Doctors Missed for 30 Years (And Why a Vacation Won’t Fix It)

Lyric Holmans

Autistic burnout is a topic that I know intimately, for multiple reasons.

As an Autistic person who was not identified as such for most of my life, due to not knowing about my Autistic mind and the accompanying needs associated with my Autistic brain and nervous system, I spent most of my life cycling in and out of Autistic burnout.

It was also Autistic burnout that, eventually, led to me finally being diagnosed as Autistic a few months before my 30th birthday.

Being burned out was, for many years, my normal. Continue reading Autistic Burnout – The ‘Mystery Illness’ That Doctors Missed for 30 Years (And Why a Vacation Won’t Fix It)

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This is fine dog on fire meme - A 2 panel comic meme of a dog sits at a table casually sipping coffee while the room around them is burning. The first panel says "Autistic & other sensory sensitive people acting like everything is fine when they're actively in sensory overload", and the second panel the dog says "This is fine" while the caption reads "but it wasn't fine at all."

The Sensory Hell No One Told Me About (And How It Almost Killed Me)

Lyric Holmans

I had nearly 30 years of frequent and totally preventable migraines that left me sick in bed (multiple times a month and sometimes multiple days a week), or forcing myself to attend school and work (with disorientation so intense it was dangerous for me to be out on the road driving, but because I had to work to get paid I forced myself to drive anyway just like I’d been forced to go to school growing up in a similar state). Continue reading The Sensory Hell No One Told Me About (And How It Almost Killed Me)

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Autistic Me: What I’ve Learned Since Being Diagnosed “with Autism” at the Age of 29

Lyric Holmans

For almost the first thirty years of my life, I masked my Autistic traits because those around me had convinced me these traits were not there.

Pushing through (denying, hiding, and ignoring) over twenty-five years of regular headaches, migraines, vertigo, disorientation, physical pain, and overloads triggered by the unsupported differences that nobody knew I had. Continue reading Autistic Me: What I’ve Learned Since Being Diagnosed “with Autism” at the Age of 29

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I’m Autistic – This is What I WISH People Understood About Sensory Processing & Sensory Overload

Lyric Holmans

Well, for me, that is when some kind of sensory input light, sound, touch, smell, a sensation on my skin, et cetera, and so forth, becomes so overwhelming to me that I either shut down, meltdown, or run away from it; because I am basically sent into almost a panic or, just this need to stop, or get away from and escape something that is currently agitating me, within the environment around me.

Some of my common triggers for sensory overload would be bright, fluorescent, lighting, certain smells, certain sounds, just really get to me. Continue reading I’m Autistic – This is What I WISH People Understood About Sensory Processing & Sensory Overload

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Autism & Sensory Seeking – Why do Autistic People Sensory Seek?

Lyric Holmans

As we dive in and talk about sensory seeking it’s first important to point out that this is going to be around all of the senses. So we’ve got the sense of touch, the sense of sound, hearing, sight, smell, taste, feeling your body in motion in space, and your sense of balance. These are all senses that are affected by sensory processing. Continue reading Autism & Sensory Seeking – Why do Autistic People Sensory Seek?