![]() Autistic individuals describe the experience of autistic inertia to vary in severity, duration of time and rate of repetition, however, all agree that when it does occur, it has the potential to be debilitating ( Welch et al., 2020b)Ī phenomenon with varying expressions by which autistic informants feel entirely overwhelmed accompanied by a lack of control and cumulative stress ( Welch et al., 2020b). Informants have explained that this burnout often results in depletion of skills and intolerance to varying stimuli ( Raymaker et al., 2020)Ī prolonged mental state of being “stuck” resulting in the physical inability to engage in activities that the individual wishes to do. Autistic bloggers highlighted that the causes of this severe exhaustion are uniquely autistic such as “masking” – the constant need to exhibit appropriate behaviors to complete everyday tasks ( Welch et al., 2020b). Table 1 shows a description of BIMS phenomena according to the current state of the evidence.ĭescribed as a distinct source of severe and chronic exhaustion ( Raymaker et al., 2020 Welch et al., 2020b). Additionally, our searches of the literature have not yielded any empirical explorations of these phenomena from the perspectives of children and youth. Our own work exploring BIMS has brought some of these phenomena to the attention of academic literature and offers only an early, somewhat tentative description of these phenomena, but leaves the need for deeper and broader exploration of autistic peoples’ experiences and understanding of BIMS phenomena. Despite the strength of this early work, academic exploration of BIMS has been preliminary and these constructs are not yet clearly defined, delineated, or agreed upon. (2021) for an examination of inertia, and the work of Belek (2018), which explores meltdown and shutdown. (2021) for explorations of burnout, Buckle et al. For some notable exceptions, please see Raymaker et al. The literature is especially void of empirical explorations of these phenomena from the perspectives of autistic people themselves. Despite the high frequency and deep importance expressed by autistic people ( Welch et al., 2020b Buckle et al., 2021 Higgins et al., 2021), there is very little exploration of these phenomena in clinical literature. Future research should leverage the insights and experiential knowledge of autistic children and youth to co-design support tool(s) for BIMS.Īutistic people who are engaged in public discourse on social media highlight burnout, inertia, meltdown, and shutdown (BIMS) as important parts of their lives ( Welch et al., 2020b Buckle et al., 2021 Higgins et al., 2021). Further research is required to develop an understanding of BIMS, especially with respect to how it is experienced by children and youth. This new knowledge will provide a foundation for how to better support autistic children and youth. These youths’ descriptions of supportive strategies for BIMS stress the importance of compassion and collaboration from trusted adults. Of the four experiences, these youth identified meltdowns as most common.Ĭonclusion: By gaining first-hand perspectives, we have identified novel insights into BIMS and developed a more holistic understanding of these phenomena. ![]() Moreover, these multifaceted experiences are often misunderstood by neurotypical adults, which contributes to inadequate support in managing BIMS. We conducted a reflexive, inductive thematic analysis, using an iterative process of coding, collating, reviewing, and mapping themes.įindings: Our analysis has identified that these youth describe BIMS as a multi-faceted experience involving emotional, cognitive and physical components. ![]() To match individual communication strengths of children and youth, we took a flexible approach to interviews, allowing for augmentative communication systems and use of visual images to support verbal interviews, as needed. Methods: One-to-one interviews were conducted with eight children and youth, who shared their experience with BIMS. We also aimed to explore how these youth cope with these phenomena and what others around them do that make things better or worse, with a hope to glean knowledge to design better supports. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the unique knowledge and insights of eight autistic children and youth to extend and refine our earlier description of burnout, inertia, and meltdown, with additional exploration of shutdown. This study builds on our previous work that offered early academic descriptions of these phenomena, based on the perspectives of autistic adults. Introduction: Burnout, inertia, meltdown, and shutdown (BIMS) have been identified as important parts of some autistic people’s lives.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |