What Does An Autistic Meltdown Feel Like? (meltdown - An Autism Short Film)

Shot on location in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Special Thanks: DF Productions, Kellam Nabers, Kathleen Ashcraft

[meowforcats]

At my old school I had meltdowns and my teachers said I needed "self control". Ugh I hate that my friends asked me why I hated those teachers.

[aliciacroft]

Its like every cell in your body having a panic attack

[jaxtonatkinson]

I can’t believe how well this depicts my meltdowns

[streamofawareness]

I’m autistic and this is accurate. A meltdown is a feeling and behavior results from that feeling, but so many neurotypicals think it’s purely behavioral and then wonder why their interventions don’t help. My meltdown can look like in the video, or they can be violent and scary, it depends on so many factors that I would be here all night listing them. The emotional component is rarely addressed, but this video does and I’m glad for that. Everybody melts down differently, some may do it “quietly” like the young man and I wonder if that is why neurotypical parents think we aren’t like their nonspeaking children when in fact we are.

[marybeaird]

I could feel my anxiety going up and up as I imagined myself in that same situation. I wish that woman would just shut up! For me that's half the problem right there. I was irritated wiuth her from the moment she opened her mouth! I don't like going to strange places alone but equally I get stressed if I'm with someone and having to work to their timetable instead of mine. Maybe the spoon symbolised the build up of negative overwhelming feelings or maybe it's something he does to comfort himself, like rocking. If the spoon was cool against my skin I might like it too, and then he has to go faster as there is more bad stuff to combat?

[melodieangelique]

That meltdown reminds me so much of mine...

[buniidraws]

This was beautifully shot, acted and the sound designs is almost like I’m there. I am autistic and this hits home for me. Thank you for allowing me to visualise to other people what it is like in life and how meltdowns happen, (I am hypersensitive to light, sounds and textures and have social anxiety.)Much love - Zoe💕

[real_super_nova]

This made me remember all the times I had a meltdown.

All because I was testing myself in the real world trying to act more like a neurotypical and not like myself.

[emilyroberts]

I wish the camera didn't jump from one scene to the next so rapidly. When I'm building towards a meltdown, everything around me is calm and smooth, it's my insides that are boiling over. That was also the calmest meltdown I've ever seen. When I have them, I slam my head against walls or the floor or my hands uncontrollably. I bite and scratch myself because I desperately need the explosion of feeling inside to come out somehow, and self-aggression and screaming are the only way that happens. I can't stand being touched during a meltdown, and talking to me only makes it worse because all I hear is noise, which adds to the chaos.

[ItStartsWithL]

Happens at shops if I'm burntout from work I forget what I'm there for and have to go to an aisle without people moving around me. I'm saving to get diagnosed. Thank you for sharing. Imposter syndrome is huge rn especially because I'm usually too exhausted to be able to explain it to anyone properly. 🙄 Support for anyone having a hard time right now 🙏💜🌿

[Sowilo-Dagaz]

It's hard for me to distinguish if I'm having a meltdown, or an anxiety attack. Of course they probably go together. I can't recall if I've ever had a severe attack in public(music in headphones and sun glasses are a great deterrent for me), but I know it happens if I'm under a lot of stress in a given situation.

[ignitebestpracticesllc.]

My heart is heavy. I work with families with a member experiencing challenges from ASD related presentations, and this film, is a must watch for all my families with a loved one on the spectrum. I can not believe how impacted I have been by watching this one film. Thank you so much.

[ozziefan]

Thats how i feel too like everything is to loud to crowded its like im in a heightend state

[annika]

This is incredible. I couldn't depict a meltdown better than this, it's exactly like some of my experiences.

[BeeWhistler]

Yep, that's familiar. It takes more to send me into a meltdown these days, at least to that level, but I do have a few triggers that will do it especially if I'm already under stress. I have to drive almost daily and that's the biggest challenge. People are so mean when they drive and if someone gets angry at me I sometimes have to go park my car so I can just sit there and lose it for a while. I can usually get my errand done eventually but it's hard.

[OfficialAshArcher]

as someone who has ASD, thank you for sharing this. It’s a great tool for helping people understand how it feels and how it can affect seemingly “normal” (using the term loosely) people going about normal days

[Mrjjgamingz]

Well I’m autistic you feel like you can’t breathe and ur gonna have a heart attack and ur scared of ur surroundings and u wanna shout

[jordangraybill]

I don’t have meltdowns that much anymore I learned how to bottle up my feelings and keep them in if I’m gonna have one but sometime not long ago like after Christmas around my birthday (my birthday is in February) I woke up for school and was in a bad mood cause I didn’t get enough sleep didn’t wanna go to school was in pain and everything wasn’t going right or feeling right and my dad was frustrated at me cause I was gonna be late for school but at this point I didn’t care and he yelled at me for crying and just sitting there I was sitting there trying to clear my mind so I wouldn’t go into full on meltdown mode and I got pissed off and slammed my tennis shoe down on the ground and stomped my foot and yelled at him “shut up” I was trying to put my socks and shoes on and the seems on my socks feel bad to me that I sometimes gotta try on 3 or 4 different socks on one foot before one feels right and he got mad at me cause we were gonna be late for school and he yelled at me “go to your room I don’t wanna deal with you rn” so I got so upset by that and went into my room and slammed the door and laid in bed and covered up with my blanket and cuddled my stuffed animal and just sobbed so much and he came in like 3 or so minutes later and asked me if I was ready to go to school I didn’t answer him or looked at him I just hid my face into my blanket and cried harder and he asked me again 2 more times never answered him or looked at him and he finally gave up and said “ok you can stay home if you feel that bad and can’t go” I just shook my head and I cried myself to sleep

This was so random but oh well

[g--brel]

It's like you must get immediately out of the environment that you get overwhelmed of.

[moonpriest]

great film
so relatable as a autistic teen myself