To hate the term meltdown

[morethanpotatoprints]

I am sick of hearing this term, not because the dcs the parents refer to but wtf does the term mean?

"DD had complete meltdown when I" arghhhhhhhh!

Is it too much to expect people to be a bit more explicit in what they are trying to convey?

What is the term that a psychologist would use to describe a meltdown in a person with autism? I assume not meltdown as that sounds quite slangy?

I've only ever heard them use that term and it's certainly the term used by the National Autistic Society.

Ooh before autism when my nt brother used to throw himself down on the floor in a shop for 20 minutes because I wouldn't buy him a toy and I thought it was the worst thing in the world!

Then I had my DS and I had full blown self harming, and I mean bashing his head so hard I thought he would knock himself out, biting, screaming, kicking, crying, getting so hot I had to strip him, lasting 8 hours none stop and nothing would stop it. And I mean I offered biscuits toys, anything to stop it but it didn't stop till he fell asleep worn out and hungry :(

A melt down isn't a want ( like the temper tantrum in the you shop, which DS also has and it's a tantrum not a meltdown)

However if a nt child is very poorly/in a lot of pain emotionally or physically and nothing can bring them down from hours of screaming I would also describe this as a meltdown.

A 30 minute toddler tantrum is a 30 minute toddler tantrum.

kladka, I've only ever heard ds's paediatrician, school, and camhs ever use the term meltdown too.

But tbh I would never ever imagine an NT person could feel as overloaded as someone with autism during sensory overload. Type in sensory overload on YouTube. Just as a bad back isn't the same as someone who has to live with a disabling back condition and a headache isn't the same as a migrane and a cold isn't the same as the flu.

I do think people sometimes like to overdramatise their lives.

I would hate to live in my sons head. I wouldn't wish a meltdown on any child.

I have never witnessed a NT child have a tantrum that even comes close to dds meltdowns. And I've never in rl / ms school, although i am probably just sheltered seen any other NT child that's had to have 2 struggling adults restraining them.

Like you panda it was paediatrian and other specialists that referred to her behaviour as a meltdown.

I have hard red mist to describe what happens in a meltdown. A complete inability to relate to stimulus of the surrounding environment with an explosion of reaction. But meltdown imo is a better description, a reaction so far gone it is impossible to resolve.

Ds is on the spectrum, he has meltdowns. In the last week, I have been screamed at for hours on end (complete hysterics) and one that involved him punching himself in the head and biting his arm badly. The second one was because I asked if he wanted a treat, I never got an answer. Now several days on he looks like he has been beaten up and still can't make eye contact. In this house the after effects of a meltdown go on for days, not just a few hours. The less able he is able to cope with general life (change of routine, changing in environment etc), the more likely he will have a meltdown and the harder it is to get him to return to a state of coping. The worse the meltdown the higher the emotional toll. Meltdowns are completely emotionally draining for ds. So hard to watch knowing there is little that I can do to help/stop him hurting himself.

I have to agree with DozyDuck who says "I would hate to live in my sons head"

*heard not hard

Meltdown almost seems too mild a word to convey what a lot of you are describing happen to your kids with autism. It doesn't seem to convey the severity or duration adequately.

Yabu

My iPhone auto-corrects meltdown to "nightgown", if that helps.

I still don't understand what the problem is. Its just a word people use to describe a behaviour. Just because that behaviour is not the same in everyone doesn't mean the word cannot be applied.

Problem is, MulberryMoon, what other word would you use. the word that get used is the same word that decribes a nuclear reaction that is out of control. The word does get thrown about a bit. Other words have done in the past too. Sometimes it comes down to a lack of knowledge and understanding. Until you see and hear the stories of these extreme events you wouldn't be able to understand because they are not something you would dream of being possible.

Sometimes I wish that the parents of normal child had the opportunity to witness a proper meltdown from pre to post states. But that would be doing the spectrum children and complete injustice because they are so much more then a meltdown. That is just a small part of who they are. And they are pretty amazing kids. They are just different. I have learnt more from spending time with kids with autism then I have from spending time with nt kids. Yes nt kids are amazing in their own right, but autistic kids have a view on the world that is outside of the box. Just sometimes that comes with an inability to cope with what happens inside the box. iyswim.

I think 'meltdown' describes a NT dissolving into floods of tears for no reason when tired/hungry/overstimulated better than it describes the AS episodes.

Sounds like autistic kids need something a little stronger to describe what happens to them.. 'terrible and horrifically sever sensory overload episode' seems to be what you are all describing. Not as easy to say as meltdown tho.

I wonder whether there is a forum of nuclear physicists where they are saying "AIBU to find it irritating when people apply the term meltdown to a person? Do they have any idea what actually happens in a nuclear meltdown?"

Mulberry