I’m a grown-ass adult, and was diagnosed as being on the spectrum quite late; Aspergers wasn’t even a valid diagnosis until after I had graduated from high school.
So, haven’t really had a lot of support.
Just wanted to check in with other people - what does a meltdown mean for you, in terms of communicating? When I’m feeling emotionally overwhelmed, I have words in my head, but I can get them out of my mouth. If I try to write things down, I either have the same block, or I’ll write, erase, re-write, erase again, and repeat tens of times until I give up.
I’m in the same boat and really struggling with this. I have some unhealthy coping mechanisms that I didn’t realize were that bad or even related.
Like you, I have trouble getting the words out. My sentences become short and choppy because I can’t process my thoughts or fully understand what I’m feeling when it’s all happening. I didn’t even realize what was going on until a month or two ago, and I’m in my late 30s. It sounds like you’ve already tried writing things down. I just started doing that today, and it’s been incredibly helpful. Another thing I’ve found useful is mindfulness meditation. I almost never listen to my body, but with mindfulness, you sort of have to.
I didn’t realize how difficult it really is to communicate these things until I tried.