Have you always had meltdowns?

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Hey everyone. Quick question: I'm the mom to two autistic twin boys who at three years old. They currently don't have meltdowns. Does this mean that they're bot likely to have them in the future, or can they develop over time? For those of you who experience meltdowns, did you always have them, or did they start happening at a certain age? Thanks for any and all help you can provide!

I had meltdowns as a child, but meltdowns became shutdowns somewhere around the time I hit puberty.

I have always had meltdowns. I think that was the biggest thing that worried my mom.

I have no idea if not having meltdowns when very young means a person will never have them.

My meltdowns started when I was no longer on the same 'level' as my peers. So they started around 10-12/puberty.

Their conversations had changed and I couldn't keep up. I was made fun of and broke down several times. The school work became more difficult and I was told to 'buck up'. I broke down from that too. I say 'broke down' because I still can't remember much. I got in trouble at school for hitting and crying, mainly.

I didn't have meltdowns from sensory issues until I was in my mid-twenties. I don't know why the delay there, except that I grew up in a small town and my home was always quiet. When I moved to a big city and left home- they started.

I'm unlikely now (older) to have a meltdown, I'm much more prone to shutdowns which happen often but are dealable.

I don't think I had meltdowns as a kid. I didn't show as much autism as I do now. They actually considered me to be more borderline than what I am now as well. My autism has actually worsened because I didn't get the help I needed. It was too late for me by the time I was diagnosed. So, my meltdowns have gotten worse as I've gotten older. I think a lot of it is the realization that things are more triggering to me than as a child. I don't know.

I can't remember my very early childhood myself but my mom told me I used to escape from her when something pissed me off. The only thing she could do when I refused something was forcefully dragging me there on her arms while I was yelling and trying to break free (although eventually my mom learned to see triggers and distract me using toys before I got furious). So it sounds like a meltdown I guess. I don't know how exactly it looked like, what was the reason of my behavior and if I really was that unreachable or my mom just couldn't deal with me. But it definitely wasn't a normal behavior.

But I am sure I have had meltdowns when I was in kindergarten and elementary school. I was famous of them. Teachers couldn't deal with me. Once I started a tantrum there was no way to calm me down untill I calmed down by myself and everyone who tried to help was only making it worse. Food issues and being bullied were usually the reasons.

For me, I was (and still am) prone to "shutdowns." I cannot remember having any "meltdowns" in the typical autistic sense.

Thank so much, everyone! I haven't seen either meltdown or shutdown behaviors from my children yet, although they will remove themselves from overwhelming situations. We typically just follow their leads when they start to look like their getting overstimulated.

I do have one son who will stare off into space periodically for about 30 seconds or so, but when he comes back, he's always happy or at least his normal self, so that doesn't seem like a shutdown to me. Could that be a beginning sign?

I'm going to continue to watch them closely, but right now it doesn't seem like they have really strong sensory reactions. Certainly, they are stronger than the average toddler, but nothing that is really life altering. A few of you said that strong sensory reactions/aversions can develop later. Any idea why they developed for you?

Thanks again and very much appreciated!

It seem to be something I call a "hang". He is probably focused on a detail or lost in his thoughts. I experience it sometimes and it doesn't seem to be related to anything bad. In fact it is quite pleasant.
But he might develop shutdowns in the future. Shutdown is a copy mechanism relying on the ability to hang.
And you should be happy if he do. There are two common methods of dealing with overstimulation (unless you can prevent it) - meltdown or a shutdown. If he ends up as the one who melts down he will get in trouble, may hurt himself and others and if he won't learn to deal with his meltdowns as adult he might have problems with police due to aggression. Shut down is way more save and socially acceptable. Other people might not even see it. And if they try to bother you you might just tell them you are tired and need a nap. It works.
I managed to change my meltdowns to shutdowns when I become adult. My life is much easier now.

BTW.
Sensory sensitivity change with age. For example as a kid I didn't feel cold at all - I could swim in nearly frozen fountain (7*C). My sense of smell was also somehow disabled - I loved playing in garbage.
As an adult I am very prone to cold - when other people wear a t-shirt I wear a sweater, when they wear a sweater I put on a jacket. And I can't stand most smells.

I usually internalize stuff. When I was younger it was always internal, but as I got a bit older, it would shed out into a meltdown very rarely. Usually it's not me being angry but feeling cornered and scared, and it triggers a fight-flight kind of response. I'm doing better now though.

You might want to mention this to your son's doctor, if you have not already, to make sure he is not having absence seizures.

Thanks again! Animalcrackers - I called his doctor as soon as I read your post. We're talking this afternoon.

I don't think they're absence seizures because he responds to his name during them, but I read up on them after your post and realized that I could have been attributing his response to awareness, when in fact it was due to the end of the seizure! I didn't realize that they could be so short. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention!

For me, what I call shutdowns are basically loss of processing ability and cognitive skills, and they aren't a separate thing from meltdowns.

There is no way I could tell someone I was tired and need a nap during a shutdown. People get mad at me and push me during shutdowns, because I can't do things they expect me to be able to do no matter how much I want to or how hard I try and I have no ability to explain, and that can actually lead to meltdowns.

Last edited by animalcrackers on 15 Oct 2014, 12:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You're welcome. I hope they are not absence seizures and that he just spaces out sometimes.

This is me. Shutdown is just.. too low power to run any systems. My communications array is the first to go, navigation is on the fritz as well so movement is very difficult. Even internal organization is muddy. Imagine a powerless submarine filled with maple syrup, chest-high. Now demand the submarine resurface, radio in and then change course. *Could* happen, but not likely. If I wait long enough in the quiet, the maple syrup oozes away and I can navigate again.

Meltdown is nuclear reactor overload. Everything is an 11. The wires are too hot and are crossing, the plutonium has melted into the outer cores and is now scaring the living daylights out of every living thing in a 100 mile radius. I will hit, kick, cry, scream, try to escape- *anything* to get away from this terror meltdown. It's like trying to escape a blast radius before a bomb goes off.

As to your question, Mother, about why I think these developed later in life? I honestly don't know. Hormones perhaps?

I had em all my life but they've gotten alot better over the last few years as I learned about AS & started working on myself more & got in a good relationship & living in a better environment.