Coping with Transitions in Autistic Burnout

Transitions can be difficult for everyone, even when they feel well, however for Autistic people they can cause significant stress and this is amplified in Autistic Burnout.   In this article I will cover:

1. What transitions are
2. Why Autistic people find transitions particularly stressful
3. Why transitions are harder in Autistic Burnout
4. How to manage transitions in Autistic Burnout 

What transitions are

A transition is ‘the process or period of changing from state or condition to another’ (Oxford English Dictionary).  We tend to hear the word used to describe big life changes such as moving house, schools, jobs, outward presenting gender, becoming a parent or retirement.  However transitions occur all the time on the micro level,  changing the focus of your attention, moving between rooms, getting out of the shower, moving from ‘work’ mode into ‘home’ mode all count as transitions. 

Why Autistic people find transitions particularly stressful

Executive Functioning

Executive Functioning is our ability to plan, sequence, organise and execute tasks.  Autistic people, in general when compared with neurotypical people, have greater difficulties when performing tasks that rely on our executive functioning skills (e.g. St. John, 2021).  

Many of us compensate for our difficulties with executive functioning by relying on well thought out and practiced routines  around every day events.  This means that, rather than thinking about what we need to do, how and when to do it, we can use pre-prepared and well practiced routines that require very little thought and, over time, may appear to be automatic.  

This means that if nothing changes in our lives we can often appear to be coping very well with (well practiced) complex skills and tasks.

For example, my default lunch is two poached eggs on toast with a cup of tea.  Unless I get a better offer, or have some good left-overs in the fridge, that’s what I eat.  

I prepare my lunch with this pre-prepared and practiced routine: I put some water in a frying pan and put it on the stove to heat up.  I fill up and turn on the kettle, I take bread out of the freezer and put it in the toaster and turn it up to 5, I put a tea bag in my mug, when the water in the frying pan begins to simmer I turn it down and add two eggs,  when the water from the kettle boils I pour it onto my tea bag, stir and add milk,  remove tea bag, butter the toast, when they’re ready, take the eggs out, put them on the toast.

This routine works for me because I don’t have to make a decision about whether I am going to eat lunch or what to eat.  I have already made that decision.  I also don’t have to work out in what order to do things as I’ve already figured it out and it is now pretty much automatic.

When a transition happens that impacts on even just one element of a well practiced routine it can throw the whole routine out. For example, if my kettle stops working and I need to boil water for the tea on the stove, I will need to recalculate the order in which I do everything and re-learn the entire process.  

However, if  I stop liking eggs, or have to start taking a packed lunch out with me,  I will need to rethink my entire lunch time routine.  

Having to work out how to do something, or a sequence of things for the first time, or in a different context puts a massive strain on our limited executive functioning capacity. 

When big changes happen, often it’s not just one of these routines that need to be changed, meaning we are trying to work out how to do multiple things and how best to sequence them from scratch.  

Processing Speed

Autistic people tend to process information at a greater level of depth over a longer period of time than non-autistic people (e.g. Haigh et al., 2018).  We also struggle to filter out irrelevant information, meaning we are often processing more information than others.  

When compared to the neurotypical population this can mean we just need more time to understand what is happening and how it is going to affect us and the people around us. 

When nothing, or very little, changes we are able to predict what is going to happen, when it is going to happen and how we and the people around us are going to be affected.  

Predictability masks our slow processing speed in that it makes us appear to be reacting in real time, but actually we had anticipated what was going to happen due to our previous experiences. 

When something new, different and/or unexpected happens we are put in a position where we are having to process all of the information in real time and we can suddenly feel quite overwhelmed and disabled as we are not able to do this as fast as the non-autistic people around us. 

Sensory processing

Sensory processing can also be a factor in making transitions more stressful for Autistic people.  the majority of Autistic people experience difficulties in sensory processing (e.g. Marco et al., 2011),  this often means that our different senses notice and process information at different speeds so you may have registered change with one sense, for example visually, but have not caught up with another, e.g. where your body is in space.  This can be disorientating and stressful.

Why transitions are harder in Autistic Burnout

Transitions are inherently stressful for Autistic people, but when you are in Autistic Burnout you have already been too stressed and for too long.

Whereas outside of Autistic burnout you might have enough energy equity to manage a temporary increase in stress, (and if you are feeling well then you might not even notice that increase in stress) when you are in autistic burnout you are already in energy debt and any increase in stress can feel much harder to tolerate. 

Decreased executive functioning capacity is a common problem reported by people in Autistic burnout, so you are likely to be relying heavily on exising routines and will find it more difficult than usual to adjust to changes. 

You may be experiencing slower than usual processing speeds and you may already be struggling to regulate your senses.  So transitions are likely to be even more stressful than usual. 

How to manage transitions in Autistic Burnout

Firstly, I’d like to say that, this might not be the best time to make big changes in your life.  You are allowed to take your health into account when you are considering whether or not it is worth making changes right now.  

However, there will be some changes and transitions that are unavoidable, or that you realise are, on balance, worth making. 

Here are a few tips for coping with medium-large transitions:

1. Acknowledge that this is a transition and that transitions can be hard.
2. Reassure yourself that the discomfort associated with the transitions is a natural reaction for anyone, particularly an Autistic person, and even more so if you are already stressed.
3. Remind yourself, that in their very nature, transitions are temporary,  this will pass (it may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass).
4. Accept that the transition will likely result in reduced capacity in other areas of your life.
5. Ask for practical and/or emotional support if and where you can.
6. Allow yourself more time and energy to process the transition by applying minimum standards to other areas of your life.  For example: This might means relying on ready meals, takeaways, meal replacement drinks or cooking very basic meals and/or using paper plates. It might mean cancelling non-urgent appointments or pushing back work deadlines.  It might mean letting the children have more screen time, or using times they are engaged in an activity to rest rather than cleaning the house.
7. Give yourself extra sensory regulation via  activities such as chewing gum, crunching carrots, swinging in a hammock, doing a yoga pose, using a weighted blanket, exercising or any activity you personally find regulating.
8. Notice the things that stay the same:  When big transitions happen it can feel incredibly disorientating,  there is  so much new information to process.  It can help to have some ‘same objects’ that you keep with you that remain constant, such as phone, keys, coffee cup or fidget toy. It can also be helpful to notice the people, places and events that do remain consistent during this time.  If you are going through very big life changes such as moving house, changing jobs or a relationship breakdown then you might need to focus on very basic constants like the sun coming up and going down and anything you are doing consistently each day.  
9. Be gentle with yourself if you end up using less-than-ideal coping strategies,  this is a temporary situation and you are doing the best that you can.
10. If possible try to prioritise hobbies, interests and things that give you joy.  These things might not seem important and can feel indulgent, but they will protect your mental health and ultimately make you more efficient in the long term.  Again, notice the things that stay the same, even if it’s just the sensory element of a favourite craft activity or the taste of your favourite drink.

And for smaller transitions…….

1. Acknowledge that this is a transition and that even small transitions can be hard, even if you would have previously coped with it or everyone else is doing it. 
2. Allow yourself extra time to rest and regulate around transitions, scheduling in breaks before and after activities or events. 
3. Consider creating a transitional activity or routine between different types of tasks or events, even if it just going to the loo and making a cup of tea.
4. Consider grouping similar activities or tasks together so you don’t have to transition too much at once.
5. Consider minimising the number of sensory transitions you are making by keeping some sensory inputs consistent during transitions e.g. listening to music via headphones as you move around the house, chewing gum or carrying a water bottle with you.
6. Sprinkle regulating sensory activities throughout your day and consider adding them to any transitional activity or routine you create.
7. If you find yourself stuck, not able to move onto the next task try to explicitly define how you know this task is finished and what you need to do in order to end this task and start the next task/activity.  This could be because the task has been completed (state how you know), for example ‘I’ve answered all my urgent emails’ or ‘I’ve spent the (pre planned) amount of time answering emails’ or ‘I’m tired and I’m no longer doing this effectively’ I need to close my computer down and put it away (ending task) and walk over to the kettle and fill it up (starting new task/ transition activity). 

I hope these lists help,  please take from them what ever is useful for you personally and disregard the rest.  If you are not sure whether these tips will be helpful for you then it might be worth experimenting with whatever sounds easiest and seeing whether or not it helps.  

We regularly have supportive conversations about coping with transitions in both Authenticity Basecamp and Authenticity: The course and community.  You would be very welcome to join us. 

I am an Autistic Clinical Psychologist specialising in  Autistic Burnout  if you would like to know more about my work please check out my: 

• Mailing list community for people who want to receive helpful information and resources about Autistic Burnout.
• Free short course on How to Break the Cycle of Autistic Burnout (link goes straight to registration page) 
• Authenticity Basecamp:   A 90 day support programme for people in the early stages of recovering from Autistic Burnout who want to get calmer, clearer and more supported.
• Authenticity: The Course and Community: For late-realised, high-masking Autistic adults who want to build more sustainable, authentic lives and break free of the cycle of Autistic Burnout for good.

References

Haigh SM, Walsh JA, Mazefsky CA, Minshew NJ, Eack SM. Processing Speed is Impaired in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Relates to Social Communication Abilities. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Aug;48(8):2653-2662. doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3515-z. PMID: 29500756; PMCID: PMC6041130.

Marco EJ, Hinkley LB, Hill SS, Nagarajan SS. Sensory processing in autism: a review of neurophysiologic findings. Pediatr Res. 2011 May;69(5 Pt 2):48R-54R. doi: 10.1203/PDR.0b013e3182130c54. PMID: 21289533; PMCID: PMC3086654.

St. John, T., Woods, S., Bode, T., Ritter, C., & Estes, A. (2021). A review of executive functioning challenges and strengths in autistic adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 36(5), 1116–1147. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2021.1971767