Which autism sub-type do you have?

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My meltdowns aren't typical for autism. While I suffer with a lot of anxiety, my meltdowns don't involve stimming (as in hand-flapping or rocking) and I don't go into "can't talk to anybody" or "I need to sit alone in a darkened room" mode. Instead I tell whoever I'm with what I'm feeling and why, and sit on the nearest chair or rest my elbows on the nearest table with my head in my heads and cry in distress. Patience and reassurance from whoever's with me always helps. If nobody is home with me then it could be trickier to calm myself, but not impossible, and crying does release the tension and I eventually feel better.

Last edited by Joe90 on 08 Apr 2023, 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mrs Peel,

I know I've already voted and I'm not changing my vote or trying to complicate matters. I just wanted to add for your understanding that "social skills / awkwardness" would most definitely be on my Top 3, except for the fact I don't have to interact with people very often. I've been pretty much reclusive for a decade. When I do interact I'm pretty much a train wreck, but I didn't vote for it because I'm home.

Same with IQ - I'm sure I'm up there pretty high in formal IQ testing but I don't know my number. Regardless it's balanced by my spiky profile in other areas like auditory-visual processing and crappy spatial awareness.

Shutdowns: I've been in one for my whole life I think. Meltdowns: Yes, and bad. Mostly if I leave home though.


Don't try to include any of this bc I'm just rambling and I already voted. ^


I love your thread and can't wait to see where it goes!

Trying again:



Thanks Recidivist!

That's BEAUTIFUL ! !

Thanks! It's very rough but yeah, I love making pictorial representations of data.
Think that might be an autism thing too (?!)

Edited to add: that little dot next to "high IQ" is just for Pepe, who reported no autism issues apart from being a brain on legs

Last edited by MrsPeel on 08 Apr 2023, 7:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Or just a brilliant mind ^

It looks like a Spirograph. Remember that toy?

Yep, I suspect this is the result of too much spirographing as a child

I like it.

Some of us probably had to neglect important traits due to an inability to select enough options.
I didn't include high IQ in the poll because I prioritized other traits, for example.

Is it a meltdown if I'm overstimulated and hate everyone and want to stab every customer who comes through my line and I have trouble responding to them verbally unless I really need to and I can't make myself put on a friendly persona?
Or is that more shutdown?
Or just being overloaded?

(Edit: God bless whoever invented Loop noise reduction earplugs, I have far fewer "I want to slap all my customers" days when I use them)

Yep, clearly we're unusually autistic.

I'm not backing down...

If I let people put more than 3 options there would be lines everywhere and I wouldn't be able to differentiate subtypes.
You've got to limit yourself to the 3 traits which are worst/strongest.
Please do your best!

Some further reading re. a paper proposing 4 subtypes (see my other thread) indicates that the differentiation may be in the relative degree of social communication deficits vs. repetitive behaviours. So while we all have these issues, the subtype will be based on which is more dominant for us, plus the level of our verbal ability.

Glad you could read that, cuz I couldn't make heads or tails out of it!

Definitely you are overloaded. If you are still doing the job, I would call it the rumble stage. For me the actual meltdown would be when I couldn't stand it anymore and snap at someone and walk off the job crying. Or the shutdown would be when you stop working and go huddle in a corner somewhere, perhaps. I'm not sure there's a whole lot of difference really, its whatever you do when it gets so overwhelming you can't function.

I stim quite frequently. I like to rock back and forth, pace, spin, write with my fingers and chew on things. I also flap my hands. I also will stare at lights and spinning objects.

I have a lot of interests that I've been obsessed with and know a lot about.

I struggle with understanding my emotions and thus I usually don't express how I feel correctly and I tend to have meltdowns. I have one or two a week. They suck. Some people think I'm "dramatic" or "immature". I've had them in public and at home. For me I bottle my emotions and they all come out because I get overwhelmed. I start saying things I don't mean and I start crying a lot. Then I apologize after I've had a nap. My close relatives know what to do. I feel horrible that I have them. I don't know what causes them honestly.