Why autistic burnout matters to businesses

For businesses, autistic burnout can lead to increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, higher staff turnover, and the loss of highly skilled employees. Understanding autistic burnout allows organisations to prevent it, respond effectively, and:

• ●
  Foster a supportive workplace culture where neurodivergent employees can unmask (i.e. stop suppressing natural behaviours or coping strategies like stimming or avoiding eye contact).
• ●
  Reduce work absences and sick leave.
• ●
  Support better health outcomes and quality of life.
• ●
  Reduce the risk of serious mental health crises, including suicidal ideation in extreme cases.

Recognising the warning signs of autistic burnout

Early signs of autistic burnout include:

What causes autistic burnout?

Autistic burnout is often the result of chronic stress, which is amplified by difficulty in regulating emotions. Many neurotypical people experience stress as a cycle:

➢ The stressor reaches your brain and triggers your body’s stress response.
➢ Your body responds (fight or flight).
➢ The stressor goes away (but internal stress is still there).
➢ Recovery. Your body and emotions stabilise to get back to the normal, balanced state.

Autistic people may find it harder to return to baseline. This is because their nervous system might require different reset techniques that are not always considered ‘appropriate’ in a workplace setting, like:

• ●Movement (stimming, rocking, flapping, pacing).
• ●Sound (headphones, tapping, humming, or blocking sound).
• ●Deep pressure input (weighted blankets, pushing against the wall).
• ●Temperature stimulation (chewing/holding ice, splashing your face with cold water).

They may already be masking a heightened state of stress that they cannot get down from, due to environmental and sensory stress triggers.

How prolonged sensory overload can trigger autistic burnout

If a person can’t get back to equilibrium, and is constantly left in survival mode, the stress is exacerbated. This continual stress can then lead to burnout.
One of the most common contributors to ongoing stress in autistic people is sensory overload. This can occur when a body’s senses are experiencing too much and go into overwhelm. Sensory triggers can include:

• Crowded spaces.
• High or low temperatures.
• Contrasting colours and patterns.
• Textures.
• Noises.
• Movements.
• Smells.

Prolonged sensory overload can lead to exhaustion and overwhelm, so mitigating it is important for preventing autistic burnout. To reduce the risk of your autistic and neurodivergent colleagues going into sensory overload, you’ll need to create a safe sensory space and an environment of self-advocacy, where employees can feel comfortable approaching you for a solution if their sensory needs are not being met.

How to create an autism-friendly workplace

Minimising sensory triggers in the workplace can be very simple and affordable. Allow people to wear noise-cancelling headphones, revisit your work attire policy (for clothes that are comfortable to wear), adjust the lighting, provide sensory tools, or change your current workspace layout.

Make sure you make conferences neurodiversity-friendly too. Allow access to downtime, incorporate games with clear rules, provide structure, and encourage quiet breakout spaces where conversations can take place away from loud noises.
Managers should schedule regular, low-pressure check-ins, ask open questions like “Is anything making your work harder right now?”, and act quickly on small adjustments before issues escalate.

Reasonable adjustments and the law

Reasonable adjustments are changes an employer or service provider makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone’s disability. By law (the Equality Act 2010), an employer must make reasonable adjustments for employees, workers, contractors and job applicants when:

• They know, or could reasonably be expected to know, that someone is disabled.
• Someone who’s disabled asks for adjustments or is struggling with a part of their job.
• Someone’s absence record, sickness record, or delay in returning to work is because of, or linked to, their disability.

Examples of adjustments include:

Helping people advocate for themselves at work

Your autistic colleagues may not want to stand out or create a fuss, for fear of unconscious bias or discrimination. Remove shame, provide empathy and create a safe space for them to discuss their needs. Communication can sometimes be a pain point; ask people how they prefer to communicate and share information, and provide reasonable adjustments.

About the Author

Ruth Bartlett is a Neuroinclusive Communications Specialist and founder of Wordsted. She combines her background in communication and community support with her neurodivergent lived experience to help organisations and teams bridge the gap between systems, processes, and their neurodivergent consumers and employees.