Tanturm vs Autism Meltdown

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I always see comparisons between tantrums and autistic meltdowns, but never anything regarding any other type of outburst or emotional/mental crack and an autistic meltdown. Unless everyone that I've observed throughout my whole life has been on the autism spectrum, I'm more than certain that non-autistic individuals can experience breakdowns similar to autistic meltdowns, and for some individuals they may be just as frequent.

I'm not referring to all instances, obviously, but the prime distinguishing feature in my eyes is the cause of such events, rather than what happens during them. It seems distress is the commonality.

My understanding of meltdowns is still fairly immature however, so if you read this please don't take what I've said more than lightly.

Thanks for posting that. Meltdowns can be so misunderstood. Importantly, most meltdowns arise, at least in part, from sensory problems that escalate out of control such that everything else is unmanageable. I wish there were more compassion on the part of 'outsiders' regarding meltdowns. So cruel when an 'on the spectrum' individual is punished for meltdowns, which are entirely distinct from a (neurotypical) tantrum.

very good picture,does head in when people call it a tantrum,though due to being in care mine are called 'incidents'.

mine are called 'episodes'

True, meltdowns are very misunderstood. I get very irritated when after having a meltdown I hear "rebel" "acting the victim" "attention seeker" "drama queen" "spoiled" etc

If I have one of my overloads in public people tend to look at me like I am mental patient and avoid me...I am not sure what I look like from the outside. At the time all I know is I am upset about something and react. I don't meant to react as I do, I don't seem to have full control over it unfortunately.

They happen more often in private as I spend most of my time alone. I fail to see how I would be using them to get a reaction from people. There is no one around to get a reaction from and I am simply overwhelmed by something that has set me off again.

Because I am noisy (shouting, screaming) people hear me though and tend to again treat me like I am a mental patient. Maybe I am, I am not sure if I have an ASD or not. I wish my walls had better sound proofing, then people might not avoid me so much. I really don't like people seeing or hearing them.

People seem nervous of my meltdowns, I don't know why. They seem to think I might become violent or attack them. I can only assume it is because I lose control of the volume of my voice or similar. I don;t attack anyone, if a really bad one happens I am more likely to hit myself than someone else. I most certainly don't mean to scare anyone.