04/20/2026
Please pay attention. We lose good people this way.
Before I regressed as an adult and went through autistic burnout
I was in the best shape of my life
I was earning close to 100k per year working 3 jobs
I mastered my career with one company and got promoted to run my own store within 6 months
I was an award winning store manager,
In this job I was extremely physical, lifting heavy furniture and delivering them to homes and apartments in which I was expected to carry heavy pieces upstairs
You seeâŚwhen people look at me today
They donât see the life I lived before I regressed
Because they donât look at my story and see autism unsupported
They see someone who gave up.
But I didnât give up.. I actually fought really hard.
Which is a big reason why I hit burnout.
I overdid it.
I overworked my body. I over-wore my mask. I put trauma on my brain that I shouldnât have, but didnât know about.
I just knew I had to âwork hard for my childrenâ
I masked my struggles until I couldnât anymore. I lost important skills & structure that people just brush off as things everyone should know how to do consistentlyâŚ
Itâs like my brain over time forgot the muscle memory that was built for so many yearsâŚjust suddenly nonexistent.. but it didnât just end up like that. The loss of skill was gradual, over time.
Slowly
I became unable to work in certain environments
I started needing someone to go to the store with me
I started needing accommodating devices 24/7 like sunglasses and noise canceling headphones
I started needing someone to come with me to run the smallest errands
I started needing someone to help me organize things
I started needing someone to sit with me while I complete tasks
I started needing someone to do so many things with me.
Or remind me how things were done.
My structure⌠MY SURVIVAL was dependent on someone being there helping me, while I was in burnout.
Because what isnât discussed enough about autistic burnout
Is that itâs more than just being tired
Itâs more than just being exhausted
Itâs your nervous system shutting down from not being able to thrive within the systems that exist.
Itâs your body in a crisis that canât be cured by high fives and feel good one liners.
It canât be cured by tough love.
It canât be cured by rigidity
Burnout requires a change in environment to be helpful.
To some autistic people, that could look like:
-Moving in with parents or roommates to save money and to have direct, in home support
-Switching jobs to keep your sensory overload under control better
-Switching jobs to get away from people so that you donât have to mask
Some people canât do this without support, especially in burnout
Burnout also requires a lot of rest. A lot of self care. And in many cases, extensive therapy.
This isnât help that a lot of people in society are ready to give out willingly. Or, help that people even know how to give.
Or help that is accessible at all.
Do you see the problem?
Recovering from burnout is a privilege, and that concept isnât even understood by a lot of society yet.
Watching yourself who was once extremely independent slowly need people to survive, does something to you.
It does more whenever those people donât adequately understand and support you.
Burnout drives a lot of autistic adults to consider leaving this world
Once in a state of extreme burnout crisis, if they are unable to rest, recover and access an appropriate safe place, an autistic person is at higher risk.
There needs to be a safety net for autistic adults experiencing regression and burnout.
But thereâs nothing.
Instead, we come online and we try to make our voices heard all while being told that we should be happy we can participate online
Make it make sense?
High masking, late diagnosed autistic experiences matter too.
Some of us were able to build a life just to watch ourselves destroy it.
And that in itself is enough to make anyone lose their mind.
Please start listening to us.
So we donât create another lost generation.
This is a crisis unfolding right in front of us.
And has already happened to an entire generation before us.
