Catastrophising and autism

I want to talk about validating autistic processing and lived experiences in mental health support.

This quote by an autistic individual encapsulates the invalidation that many autistic people can feel when our way of processing is described as 'catastrophising'.

Often our autistic brains will be working out every eventuality of a given situation, this is partly due to the speed at which our brain process, our need for certainty and a survival mechanism.

This can lead to us seeing problems that others can't yet see. A frequent autistic experience is highlighting an issue, that is ignored until it's 'too late'.

When we are supporting autistic individuals it is important that we acknowledge and validate their lived experience and their processing style.

Whilst we want to think about 'what if' things go well we also want to think about 'what if' they don't.

- What do we need to be able to manage the uncertainty?

- What do we need in order to cope if things go wrong?

- What do we need to feel safe?