“I know you're worried. I'm sorry. I'm just...very..." I can't think of the right word. How do I explain that mind is too slow and too jumbled all at once. That I'm out of gas? That I've failed, and the only way to keep from falling apart is to accept that? Or that maybe I've already fallen apart, and I don't know if I can sweep the pieces back together? I settle on three words. "I am tired.” DisabilityAutismBurnoutNonverbalOverstimulationShutdownSemiverbalSpeech Issues Book:On the Edge of Gone Source: On the Edge of Gone
“I'm getting so sick of talking. It's like holding the wrong kind of magnets together: I can try and try, but it takes brute force, and the second I relax, the magnets simply slide past each other.” AutismNonverbalShutdownSemiverbalSpeech Issues Book:On the Edge of Gone Source: On the Edge of Gone
“I don't think you're even hearing me." Her laugh turns into a sob. I'm listening. I just don't know what to say, or how. Words crawl in the back of my mind but won't take enough shape to reach my tongue.” AutismNonverbalShutdownSemiverbalSpeech Issues Book:On the Edge of Gone Source: On the Edge of Gone