The Young Person’s Guide To Autistic Burnout

Written by Viv Dawes, this essential guide addresses the intense physical, emotional, and cognitive exhaustion caused by chronic sensory overload, masking, and unaligned environments. It offers gentle, practical tools designed specifically for young neurodivergent people, their families, and educators.

• Introduction:
• Luna and Jordan: An introduction

Part 1 Understanding Autism

• Chapter 1: What are neurodiversity?
• Chapter 2: What is Autism?
• Chapter 3: Understanding our Autistic brains

Part 2: understanding Autistic burnout

• Chapter 4: What is Autistic burnout
• Chapter 5: Some of the main causes of Autistic burnout
• Chapter 6: masking
• Chapter 7: Demands and expectations
• Chapter 8: Running out of energy
• Chapter 9: school
• Chapter 10: The P word: puberty and Autistic burnout
• Chapter 11: when emotion and feeling are big and confusing
• Chapter 12: All our different senses

Part 3: recovery, prevention and looking ahead

• Chapter 13: Recovery and prevention
• Chapter 14: stories of hope
• Helpful books and websites:
• Glossary:
• References:

VivDawes is an autistic (PDA) and ADHD advocate, writer, public speaker and trainer with 30 years experience working with vulnerable neurodivergent people.

“When I first went into burnout I thought it was depression. I felt so cold, demotivated, confused and I didn’t feel able to do any of the things I used to enjoy doing. All I wanted to do was stay in my bedroom and couldn’t even change out of my pajamas for months.”