Summary
“Burnout” is a long term, stress-induced drain that results in sustained behavioral changes such as: extreme mood swings, irritability, exhaustion, addictions, retreating from socializing, and more.
Because of their sensitive nervous system, PDA children are more prone to burning out from “typical” stresses that most people can manage.
In fact many parents discover their children are PDA because of how burnout accentuates PDA triggers.
It is common in these spaces that the burnout is triggered by too much activity, but it is also possible that understimulated children experience burnout as well.
Triggers
- Developmental milestones
- Co-occurring health needs
- External life stresses
- Sensory sensitivities
... are all unavoidable demands that can trigger periods of burnout.
School, “typical” expectations to keep to schedules, inflexible parenting styles, are examples societal-imposed triggers.
We hope our groups can help you troubleshoot what is truly essential and what can be dropped (long- or short-term) in order to help your child, and your family, function best.
Healing Burnout
Parents can expect that periods (months if not years) of radically reduced demands will allow for healing should include:
- shifting to low-demand parenting
- dropping limits on regulating activities such as “screen time” (with exceptions around safety, content types, and bedtimes)
- providing as many preferred options and activities as is feasible
- proper education supports
- supporting increased sensory sensitivities like sound, light, safe foods
- troubleshooting safe, stimulating activities when inactivity is making burnout more pronounced
- increased caregiver support so that family members don’t also burnout in the process
Final Thoughts
"The idea of helping a child emerge from burnout by significantly reducing demands and expectations is not intended to be permanent. It's intended as an intervention to allow them to regain balance in their nervous system. PDA is a disability, and it needs to be accommodated as much as any other disability that might require time away from stressors and overwhelming environments that cause ongoing distress.
"The hope is that in time, and with proper support, the child can gradually emerge from burnout and re-engage with their education --- whether it be back in traditional school, a specialized school, home school, online school, or child-led unschooling (which isn't the same as no school at all). What education looks like will vary from child to child... If a child's hand is being burned by a fire, we don't keep it there -- we pull back and tend to the wound so it has time to heal.
"Parenting a PDAer can require an extreme shift in expectations and in reframing how we parent. It can be rather overwhelming when you're new to PDA, but it's important to dive in and learn all you can about how to support, accommodate and hopefully prevent burnout." - Andrea Perkins
Additional Resources
Burnout from understimulation by Trauma Geek