OK, everyone. For starters, can I just reiterate something which people seem to gloss over: meltdowns happen in autistic adults, not just autistic children. You may not see them as often because we may be better at hiding them from the general public, but just sometimes you may see cracks in our armour and one will get through.

[TW self harm]
For me, meltdowns are much the same now as they were when I was a child: the crippling panic, the uncontrollable tears and shaking, the repetition of a phrase of thought on loop in my head, the need for space and silence. Added to that are some tricks I picked up in my adolescence to ease the pain in my soul: the hitting my thighs or walls, the digging my fingernails into my head, the rubbing my skin until it’s raw.
[End of TW]

It is real. It happens…