If I Can Just Get Through This: A Therapist's Journey and Guidance through Autistic Shutdown and its Triggers

by Jessica Kitchens

Autistic individuals often find immeasurable struggles living in a world that primarily caters to the neurotypical individual. Sadly, these struggles are not decreasing, but increasing due to the ever-changing pace of things. As life progresses and becomes more complex, so does the intensity of these individuals' symptoms. One growing challenge that has magnified many efforts to endure through these complexities has been the prevalence of autistic shutdown, also known as burnout.




Autistic therapist Jessica Kitchens, has found that this particular battle is one that she and many of her clients face on a regular basis. Utilizing lived experience and her proclivity for research she shares her own struggles, along with the numerous factors, roots, and triggers that increase the prevalence of shutdown in all ages. She invites autistic individuals, family members, and the professionals working with them to read and possibly find ways to withstand and overcome this common struggle.

218 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 5, 2023

Reviews

[Ansley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Very informative and eye opening. Would definitely recommend if you suspect you are on the spectrum or have loved ones in your life on the spectrum.

[AD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review - If I Can Just Get Through This A Therapists Journey and Guidance through Autistic Shutdown and it's Triggers by Jessica C. Kitchens

So I must admit that I had taken the word Shutdown literally based on my knowledge of Meltdowns and Shutdowns. But after I got to the 2nd chapter - What is an Autistic Shutdown, I realised it was about Autistic Burnout.

The author bravely shares her life with the reader as they share their journey of a late diagnosis. (over 40). Parts of their story will be triggering for many people. But the author kindly advises which parts to skip based on this. Thank you to the author for their thoughtfulness and showing so much vulnerability in their writing.

I am from the UK so there were parts that I struggled to relate to, but I think this partly due to my lack of knowledge of American terminology and also being male.
But that being said there was so much that I have learned.

To my untrained eye the book is well researched and mixes in lived experience throughout. It's interesting to read from a qualified therapists view point which gives a different perspective and level of knowledge to consider.

The chapter on PDA is insightful and gives you a glimpse into the life of a PDAer. The chapter on trauma was interesting to read and I learned a lot about different types of therapy available and typed of trauma.

There are some great tips, coping mechanisms and things to try to help you avoid burnout and also to help to get out of it. Including at the end a worksheet to help you understand symptoms, triggers and coping mechanisms and planning for how to get out it should you end up in burnout.

Also included are links to useful organisations to follow, advocates and books to read. It is always nice to see names I know and books I have in my to read list.

I found the book easy to read, even if I was initially confused

[Ryan Elizabeth Burchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If I Can Just Get Through This” is an important contribution to mental health. Jessica bravely offers up her lived experience with grace and a helpful education to increase the reader’s knowledge and awareness around neurodiversity. She instills hope without sugarcoating the reality of living with depression, anxiety, and overwhelm; and though she gently offers direction and resources she encourages readers to find their individual paths to healing. In conclusion, this author has shown us her heart and it embodies the strength and vulnerability that is the human spirit. She reminds us that, even in our darkest moments, we are not alone.
Bravo ❤️

[Jessica Kitchens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I am the author, and I think it's pretty good. I am aware that any book based on a disability is not going to be everyone's cup of tea because all disabilities are experienced differently, and those experiences are much more nuanced than one book can describe. But for many high-masking autistics, this book may connect with their experience in some capacity. And it is for those individuals that I have written it.

[Simrit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall very informative. I wish it touched more on the difficulty to access resources for late diagnosis adults.

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, and bought it because of the title, thinking it would provide valuable insights into adult autistic shutdown. It did not. I'm sure the author is a capable therapist, but a writer and researcher, they are not. While the information is mostly factually correct, it is rather lazily researched, and they use websites and youtube videos as citations for scientific claims. The book begins with some very personal anecdotes of the author's teenage life experience that must have been difficult to reveal, however it is not clear how they relate to the topic of the book at all and it feels awkward to read. The writing itself varies in quality, with a few words missing from sentences here and there, and the vocabulary and tone changing remarkably when an peer-reviewed research source is cited, suggesting a cursory understanding of the material. If a student handed this book in to me to fulfill an assignment, I'd have sent it back and given them more time to complete it. The chapter that finally deals with the topic of the book could really have been summed up in a blog post, and disappointingly does not provide any more insight into autistic shutdown than what one can find on a reddit thread. Again, I really wanted to like this book, but I wish I could get the 4 hours back that it took me to read it. Perhaps the fact that it is self-published should have been a red flag.