Do aspies have melt downs or is that an autism thing?

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Autism Spectrum Disorder

Must meet criteria A, B, C, and D:



A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across contexts, not accounted for by general developmental delays, and manifest by all 3 of the following:

1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity; ranging from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back and forth conversation through reduced sharing of interests, emotions, and affect and response to total lack of initiation of social interaction,

2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction; ranging from poorly integrated- verbal and nonverbal communication, through abnormalities in eye contact and body-language, or deficits in understanding and use of nonverbal communication, to total lack of facial expression or gestures.

3. Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships, appropriate to developmental level (beyond those with caregivers); ranging from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit different social contexts through difficulties in sharing imaginative play and in making friends to an apparent absence of interest in people

B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as manifested by at least two of the following:

1. Stereotyped or repetitive speech, motor movements, or use of objects; (such as simple motor stereotypies, echolalia, repetitive use of objects, or idiosyncratic phrases).

2. Excessive adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior, or excessive resistance to change; (such as motoric rituals, insistence on same route or food, repetitive questioning or extreme distress at small changes).

3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus; (such as strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

4. Hyper-or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment; (such as apparent indifference to pain/heat/cold, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, fascination with lights or spinning objects).

C. Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities)

D. Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning.

I don't really know what "serious troubles" could be, but I do know I seem to have troubles that the average person doesn't seem to possess. I mean, the average person might have boyfriend/girlfriend problems (Oh, cry me a river), but they don't have problems with team-mates stabbing them in the back in a group software project nor do they have problems with the FBI coming and investigating them because of an innocent question on a public forum that seemed "suspicious" to others. And, I've been more closely observing my social interactions lately and noticed that there are definitely times I 'don't get it' except 10 seconds later after I analyzed the situation well enough (I think most people just understand it intuitively right away).

Here are some examples from a journal entry of said situations:



Btw, the only reason why my cousin hangs around me is because I pay him to do lawncare work for me, so he's obliged to hang around to keep the relationship "friendly" (It's an NT thing). Other people who have no financial incentive to "build a relationship" tend to avoid me like the plague.

Last edited by swbluto on 12 Sep 2011, 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, people with Asperger's have meltdowns. They may have angry outbursts or try to keep them in. It's not always just sudden meltdowns, but anger has been building up overtime and so the slightest irritation could set them off.

Would shouting your order to the cashier because they said you're too quiet be a "meltdown"? The anger over "You're too quiet" was slowly building up over time from all the people who kept saying that pretty much everywhere, even when I thought I sounded perfectly loud.

A 'Meltdown' does not always take the form of a wild tantrum-like fit, if that's what you're thinking when you use the word.

In higher functioning autistics, it may take the form of an emotional breakdown, or simply shutting down and refusing contact with the outside world (of course we tend to do that anyway). In general, it is an emotional reaction to overwhelming sensory stresses - when the psychic noise level of life feels so loud that we just cannot take it anymore, there is a sort of 'pushing back' against it (the sensory overload). It might involve shouting, or physically acting out, or slamming doors and (in extreme cases) breaking things, or it might just manifest as an extended bout of depression and weeping. Its kind of temporary nervous breakdown. Often we may have difficulty pinpointing the source of the problem, because its usually a combination of stresses that just build up to an explosion and may be set off by something that appears in the moment to be insignificant.

And HERE is why you need to be assessed by a professional. You have all the bits and pieces of information and still cannot make up your mind... If you cannot answer the question for yourself if these things impair your every day functioning then how can anyone else? In my eyes you are as NT as anyone in the way that you write and the social awareness that you have but John Elder Robison is that way to me too. You may be on the spectrum in the same way that he is.... But he did not know until he got assessed and neither will you... That is what sux about being so close...

I have meltdowns and I am Aspergers. Im not proud in having them I get really embarressed and ashamed after I have one. I was told that Aspergers is a spectrum of Autism.

I am diagnosed with AS and thus I am autistic. Like many others who are autistic, I have shutdowns and meltdowns. I don't see my diagnosis as placing me in a special category separate from people diagnosed with autistic disorder or PDD-NOS.

I don't understand why you seem to think kfisherx is picking on you. That's how she responds to just about everyone. That's how she communicates. Honestly, I can't see what in her replies makes you think she is picking on you. I think her point is valid - that you have gathered so much information on your own behavior and cognition and still can't decide, then possibly the only way you can probably move forward is with professional help.

As far as examples of meltdowns: I've thrown food at a Burger King manager after the third time they got my order wrong (one of the very very few times I have actually directed anything at another person), I walk out of stores without purchasing anything because the lights, noises, people, and textures (this usually happens when I am shopping for clothes) has driven me past the point of function and all I can do is think of getting away. Sometimes it hits like a runaway train and keeps going until I do something (sometimes breaking something I own) that snaps me out of it and leaves me feeling like my thoughts are moving through molasses for a few days afterward. Sometimes I just curl up and cry, but I am so angry at everything I can barely speak. Sometimes it's so intense I just shut down and do literally nothing for an hour or two.

Also, I have snapped at people who tell me I'm too quiet over and over again. I can't tell you whether or not that is a meltdown for you, although I wouldn't qualify it as one for me. It varies for everyone, though.

The worse it is the less able I am to be around or interact with people. What causes it: Sensory overload, unexpected change, sustained communication problems where I seem to be completely unable to make someone understand me (or they are unwilling to accept any interpretation of what I am saying but their own).

I'll provide a detailed analysis for your consumption.



See the word "still" in the sentence 'you are still trying to DX yourself' followed by 'Why'? That basically means...

"I can't believe you're STILL trying to do that... you fool, why are you even bothering?". Her judgment on my foolishness is emphasized in her choice of words, and that's what you call picking on people. Every time I ever ask the possibility of autism, she's almost always harping on me to remind me that I'm on a quest for fool's gold.



My shouting was controlled, so I don't know if "wildly out of control" would describe it that well, as "melt down" implies.



Jeez, I seem to have sustained communication problems with some people when discussing more complex matters (Some of it seems rather simple to me, actually.), and I think it's like you're expected to find the "angle" or "way of speaking" that makes sense to the other person, or you're supposed to understand their viewpoint and explain things from the perspective of their viewpoint. It's mildly annoying, though, because some people seem to have some really weird viewpoints (The "really weird" viewpoint I'm thinking of might essentially be an archetypal neurotypical viewpoint, lol.).

I'm kinda prone to temporary meltdowns when Mario jumps his sorry a** where it doesn't belong. =p Mario makes me mad.

But other than that a full blown melt down would be like what I had The Sunday of last week. My desktop computer messed up and when I tried to fix it. Things weren't working out. I was slowly on the verge of panicking and then it finally happened. I screamed a few times. Eventually I did get it working again, but I took a break from it before putting some of my programs back on it real quick like. I'm backed up crazy like, so I don't lose things. I should be glad of that. The meltdowns are almost unavoidable. I can't bring myself out of them unless I'm given a break from what is bothering me, but if whatever it is isn't fixed to my liking I end up depressed or anxious for a day or so, which is what happened. I got better Tuesday and I didn't even have everything quite back in order, but I was so sure I had it working, i guess. I still worry from time to time, though.

So, to answer your question. Yes Aspies have meltdowns. Don't get me started on HS bullying. That's a whole nother story with lots of meltdowns.

Lol, if you call those melt-downs, I have them just about all the time. "You stupid mother-f'ing computer! Why aren't you working?! !!" "GaaahhhhH!! !!"

Some people with Asperger's have meltdowns. Some don't. They're not in the diagnostic criteria, so of course you can have Asperger's without having them.

No one's picking on you. Calm down.

If you were to see me and feel what I feel...you'd most certainly know they were meltdowns. They're intense. wow...

Uh..... No. When I say

"You are still trying to DX yourself... Why? To what end? You know you are weird and you have some characteristics. You may just be BAP (look it up) and not AS. You will NEVER get that confirmation without a formal assessment which you say you cannot afford. If you do not feel that you need services for your disability then stop worrying about it. You are just you!"

It means...

"You are still trying to DX yourself... Why? To what end? You know you are weird and you have some characteristics. You may just be BAP (look it up) and not AS. You will NEVER get that confirmation without a formal assessment which you say you cannot afford. If you do not feel that you need services for your disability then stop worrying about it. You are just you!"

You see, I am a very literal person and it causes me great troubles in life which is why my DX was easy to get. Your inference to those words is exactly what NT people do to me all the time which is one of the ways that ASD is actually troublesome for me. I get into trouble regularly for not being able to infer meanings like you just did...


I am not harping but rather am actually giving you tangible advice instead of anecdote and "wild geese" to chase around.

Let's say that you fall into money tomorrow and you can afford a DX and you get one. So what? What changes?

I did not ask for my DX. I was seeking grief therapy when I was told about Austim and me. It did not make me all of a sudden function better. It did not change who I was or am.

What exactly are you seeking with this question that you keep asking?

You seem to have a good social awareness about how NTs say one thing to deliver a different message. Most autistic people, it seems to me, try to directly say what we mean. You're applying NT assumptions to autistic communication. I am not saying it's impossible for autistic people to have ulterior communications, but generally speaking, what is literally said is what is literally meant.



There's also a thing with ADHD where flares of frustration can burn brightly for at most a few minutes and then they're gone.



It's often really difficult for me to find the "correct" way to communicate some things as some people seem determined to read things into what I am trying to say that I did not put there, nor did I think it in the first place. It's really stressful trying to work around that and clarify matters as the clarifications can be misinterpreted badly as well.

Last edited by Verdandi on 12 Sep 2011, 11:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Are these meltdowns specific to autism at all? It seems to me like this could happen to normal people under stress.

@swbluto: I have asperger's. I don't do any 'hand flapping', whatever that is. As far as I know I don't have meltdowns.

If you want to diagnose yourself look up the DSM-IV criteria and see if you match enough of the symptoms. You don't have to meet them all to be diagnosed.

If you want a real diagnosis go see a psychologist or something. This is what I would do. What's the point in diagnosing yourself? You don't get anything out of, least of all certainty.