Dr. Alice Nicholls

During my years of working with hundreds of late-realised, high-masking Autistic Adults in Autistic Burnout I’ve noticed shame as a common theme in the factors contributing to, and maintaining their Autistic Burnout.  In this article I will outline: What shame is Sources of shame for Autistic people How shame can contribute to the causes of […]

Autistic Burnout is a clear sign that something needs to change in your life.   Often lots of things.   But where do you start? The answer depends very much on where in the Cycle of Autistic Burnout you are right now.   In this article I will outline each stage of Autistic Burnout and

“Connection”  Just the word can conjure up images of groups of friends enjoying drinks, or families sitting down to eat a Bisto-ad-worthy roast dinner together… But these traditional, neurotypical ideas and images of connection can make it feel totally inaccessible to Autistic people,  particularly people in Autistic Burnout.  The experience of connection, can increase feelings

There is an initial acute phase in Autistic Burnout, where people normally experience an intense crash in their energy levels and ability to function.   This crash often occurs quite suddenly, although there may have been warning signs. People often describe this phase as rock bottom, a crisis or deep burnout. This phase can be

‘Avoidance’ has become a bit of a dirty word when we talk about stressful situations, hard work, trauma or phobias.  While there are valid reasons for having concerns about avoidance, it isn’t always a bad thing.  Sometimes some degree of avoidance of stressful or triggering situations is an important part of recovery from chronic stress and

I had an interesting conversation with people on my mailing list about how people respond to the question ‘how are you?’ and I wanted to share it here too… For Autistic people, and particularly Autistic people in Autistic Burnout or with other health conditions the question ‘How are you?’ can be very difficult to answer. 

One of the first concepts I introduce in Authenticity is the idea of ‘stressors’ and ‘soothers’; things that make Autistic Burnout worse and better respectively.  When you’ve had a long period of too many stressors and not enough soothers your stress levels have been too high for too long.   In an ideal world, to recover from

I often get asked ‘how can I explain my Autistic Burnout to others? My answer is that it depends on a few things: The context How much time do you have for this conversation? What is the nature of your relationship with this person? Are they a close friend or more of a casual acquaintance?

If you are a late-realised, high masking Autistic person experiencing extreme fatigue you may be wondering if you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) or Autistic Burnout.  You may have been diagnosed with CFS/ME and be worried that the diagnosis is incorrect, or you may have resisted such a diagnosis feeling that it

People in Autistic Burnout often ask me this question: Will I ever get back to my pre-Autistic Burnout level of functioning? The answer is not a simple one… First of all, if you are in the acute stage of Autistic Burnout then please be reassured this stage won’t last and you will regain some of