Can autism get worse?

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Can autism get worse? (eg. can you go from having high functioning autism to being non verbal,completely withdrawn from the world, and requiring constant supervision etc)

The autism itself can't get worse, it all depends on the way you manage it and handle things

It can, yes. It happened (or is happening) to me. It's a recognized thing in autistic circles - it's called "autistic burnout", where you essentially run out of energy to execute neurotypical behaviours and life skills. There's a good video on it below.

Yes.

It can be gradual over an extended period of time, or it can be abrupt and sudden, usually it's the result of a change in circumstance, or a life changing event. The reason vary from person to person, and can be very subtle, or transparent. Of course, sometimes we only think that we or our Autistic friends are getting worse, when really their not, so it's important to be careful and absolutely certain before you start jumping to conclusions.

Can autism get worse

yes

Last edited by wronngbong on 01 Jan 2016, 10:10 am, edited 3 times in total.

thanks for the vid infinitycap. i never thought to connect why i cant think or function when im out of energy to autism.

No, but stress and anxiety can make it harder to function and you can go through depressive states, panic attacks, and shut downs which can make it harder to speak and do simple tasks but the autism itself doesn't change.

It also doesn't improve, autism stays the same while coping mechanisms and life strategies change.

I'm not really sure, I know for me personally some aspects of it has gotten worse but other parts have gotten easier through consistently working on them. If I'm in a season of life where I'm almost never around people (like when I worked from home) the social aspect of my life seems exponentially more difficult. However, my tactile issues have seemed have gotten progressively worse over the years.

I had one of the members here contact me and when I told of a few instances and increase of occurrences (meltdowns, etc) and the massive changes going on (long distance travel, a few other things) he mentioned this and pointed to information. Explained to me why things are happening in a more punctuated fashion these days.

I'm not sure if the autism gets worse or if the walls and coping mechanisms start to fail and let more of it show. Does that make sense?

And while I had trouble posting, ZombieBrideXD said the same thing...duhhhhhhh

If an adult goes from high functioning to non-verbal, completely withdrawn, and requiring constant supervision, they probably have another mental illness or neurodegenerative disorder. People whose autistic traits get somewhat worse are stressed out and having dips in functioning or having increased demands they are not yet able to meet, this is common.

Unless you develop an unrelated neurological disorder, one really cannot suddenly go from having Level 1 autism to Level 3 autism.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 01 Jan 2016, 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That makes sense, yeah. I guess it depends on what OP means as getting worse - if they mean autistic symptoms getting more pronounced due to stress/coping mechanisms failing/not having enough energy to handle taught life skills, which is what I assumed they meant, then it's probably autistic burnout. If they meant developing neurological symptoms they've never had trouble with before, like struggling with motivation and speech or bowel issues, then it's probably a co-morbid condition.

Of course one can cause the other and you can also have both. Hurray for the complexity of mental health! </sarcasm>

<--- Has noticed his autistic symptoms becoming more pronounced as of late.

Oddly enough as the traits I exhibit get more pronounced in a negative way (social interactions, sensory input overload) they are also getting more pronounced in more positive ways as well. Increased focus, truly happy being alone and doing the things I do well, work included. Only from thanksgiving until 12/19 did I lose control a bit and just lived in one of my special interests to the exclusion of other, more important things.

Not to bump a slightly old thread but thank for this youtube channel, I appreciate it.