Autistic Self-Care Considerations
As an Autistic person, there are some considerations I need to make when checking in with myself and my current state of being. Since I have interoception challenges, tend towards alexithymia (difficulty identifying and putting my emotions and internal experiences into words), and live with a chronic physical condition, I had to come up with another way of staying mindful of my health that doesn’t solely rely on my ability to feel my body — which often feels both very neutral and some degree of achy.
What I created are sets of check-in questions that help me to observe and track patterns in what I know are important to my sense of well-being: physical body, sensory, ritual and routine, special interests, accommodations and access, and unmasking. In the initial process of creating this resource for a client, I navigated some burnout myself. This parallel process of lived experience alongside writing the resource led to an interesting and wonderful co-creation. This was also made with love and joy as it was borne out of my reconnection with digital art.
This is a small, simple visual aid with prompts and it’s by no means comprehensive. Feel free to use what works for you and to adjust or to leave what doesn’t. Allistic (non-Autistic) folks may also find these prompts to be useful, since meeting the support and access needs of the most marginalized results in the benefit of many others in the process.
features
Free PDF
First page shows summary of 6 reflection questions (shown here)
6 following pages break down each topic with more reflection questions, examples, and basic definitions
Last 3 pages contain text-only version with no colorful graphics
Image description:
Handwritten title reads “autistic self-care considerations” in forest green and “by amanda t.” underneath in gold. Arranged in six bubbly shapes in shades of forest green, gold, and white is the following text: 1) How is my body? (Affirming that answering this may be hard due to interoception challenges); 2) Am I getting enough sensory input? Am I getting too much?; 3) Do I have rituals that feel meaningful and supportive?; 4) How am I staying engaged with my special interests?; 5) What could I ask for that would help me feel more supported and at ease?; 6) Where can I create and protect time and space to unmask?
