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The Autistic Burnout Workbook: Your Guide to Your Personal Recovery Plan
Navigate the challenging terrain of autistic burnout with expert guidance and transformative exercises designed to help you pursue your own recovery from neurodivergent psychologist Dr. Megan Neff.
Feeling burnt out? You’re not alone. Autistic burnout is a challenge faced by many individuals on the autistic spectrum. And Autistic Burnout Recovery is here to help.
This transformative guide is designed to empower individuals on the autism spectrum to manage and overcome burnout. Crafted with empathy and insight, this guide provides practical strategies and exercises to help you navigate the unique challenges associated with burnout.
Through interactive prompts and activities, Autistic Burnout Recovery teaches individuals how to identify triggers, manage sensory overload, and build resilience. It encourages self-reflection and cultivates a supportive environment for personal growth. It is a proactive approach to mental health, promoting self-care and fostering a sense of control that makes it a lifeline for those grappling with the realities of autistic burnout.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Feeling burnt out? You’re not alone. Autistic burnout is a challenge faced by many individuals on the autistic spectrum. And Autistic Burnout Recovery is here to help.
This transformative guide is designed to empower individuals on the autism spectrum to manage and overcome burnout. Crafted with empathy and insight, this guide provides practical strategies and exercises to help you navigate the unique challenges associated with burnout.
Through interactive prompts and activities, Autistic Burnout Recovery teaches individuals how to identify triggers, manage sensory overload, and build resilience. It encourages self-reflection and cultivates a supportive environment for personal growth. It is a proactive approach to mental health, promoting self-care and fostering a sense of control that makes it a lifeline for those grappling with the realities of autistic burnout.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
1 pages, Audio CD
Published March 11, 2025
116 people are currently reading
663 people want to read
About the author
Megan Anna Neff
5 books50 followersDr. Neff is a clinical psychologist, researcher, writer, and self-described accidental "Instagram Therapist" and content creator.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 21, 2025
Autistic burnout is poorly understood by so many yet has devastating, often long-term, consequences for Autistic people. Dr. Megan Anna Neff has produced a phenomenal book supporting Autistic people to navigate burnout, while providing adaptable techniques to prevent further occurrences.
Advice for Autistic burnout often centres around radical rest, sometimes for long periods. I love the way Dr. Neff acknowledges the impracticality of this for most people and instead offers a pick-the-best-options-for-yourself smorgasbord of practical ideas that can be incorporated into daily life. Rational is provided for each based on research, clinical, and personal experience. The techniques are illustrated with text, diagrams, and worksheets, many of which can be downloaded if you don’t want to mark your book or if you wish to complete more than once.
While this book provides so much help for Autistics who are approaching or already in burnout, the guidance will be helpful for those not currently experiencing burnout—it will help Autistic people thrive in everyday life and prevent the onset of burnout. This book pairs nicely with Neff’s first book ‘Self-care for Autistic People’ to offer an extensive range of self-care techniques.
The strategies in the book will also be helpful for people who are newly exploring their Autistic identity and discovering their Autistic needs, including how to understand and work with their sensory profile, and Autistic masking.
The Autistic Burnout Workbook is written by an Autistic-ADHD clinical psychologist who actually understands the extent of Autistic burnout. The tone is affirming and supportive rather than preachy or judgemental.
I’ve had many periods of Autistic burnout which cumulated in a years-long major burnout which I have only recently recovered from. I wish I had this book many years ago! But even after recovering, I have started to use some of the exercises in the book to prevent future occurrences and, despite only having had the book for a few days, I am already sleeping better! I cannot recommend The Autistic Burnout Workbook more highly!
Note: I was gifted a copy of The Autistic Burnout Workbook from the Publisher with no obligation to review. Self-care for Autistic People was my own previous purchase. All opinions are my own and have not been solicited from elsewhere.
Advice for Autistic burnout often centres around radical rest, sometimes for long periods. I love the way Dr. Neff acknowledges the impracticality of this for most people and instead offers a pick-the-best-options-for-yourself smorgasbord of practical ideas that can be incorporated into daily life. Rational is provided for each based on research, clinical, and personal experience. The techniques are illustrated with text, diagrams, and worksheets, many of which can be downloaded if you don’t want to mark your book or if you wish to complete more than once.
While this book provides so much help for Autistics who are approaching or already in burnout, the guidance will be helpful for those not currently experiencing burnout—it will help Autistic people thrive in everyday life and prevent the onset of burnout. This book pairs nicely with Neff’s first book ‘Self-care for Autistic People’ to offer an extensive range of self-care techniques.
The strategies in the book will also be helpful for people who are newly exploring their Autistic identity and discovering their Autistic needs, including how to understand and work with their sensory profile, and Autistic masking.
The Autistic Burnout Workbook is written by an Autistic-ADHD clinical psychologist who actually understands the extent of Autistic burnout. The tone is affirming and supportive rather than preachy or judgemental.
I’ve had many periods of Autistic burnout which cumulated in a years-long major burnout which I have only recently recovered from. I wish I had this book many years ago! But even after recovering, I have started to use some of the exercises in the book to prevent future occurrences and, despite only having had the book for a few days, I am already sleeping better! I cannot recommend The Autistic Burnout Workbook more highly!
Note: I was gifted a copy of The Autistic Burnout Workbook from the Publisher with no obligation to review. Self-care for Autistic People was my own previous purchase. All opinions are my own and have not been solicited from elsewhere.
April 10, 2025
This was fantastic!
May 20, 2025
Great little book in many ways for thinking about the elements of autistic burnout--which can be triggered by cumulative stressors ranging from everything from overwork to life changes to sensory overload. Neff's writing style is incredibly digestible and the page layouts are great for scattered attention or difficulty absorbing walls of complex information. It's a thoughtful opening play in dissecting what might be negatively impacting your life and making you feel like you can't catch up or calm down over sustained periods of time. It's also affirming and familiar without feeling too condescending (which can happen), and I APPRECIATE that Neff is open to the idea that masking is neither an absolute good nor an absolute evil. Some of the tips, checklists, and viewpoints she offers will likely go a long way in setting you down a path of greater mental/emotional/physical sustainability, comfort, and calm. I do think everything she covers would be better used as, not a comprehensive treatment plan, but a way to begin working in depth with a therapist or using other resources. There is so much more to dig into on every topic and I think for many people, more granular tools or instruction will perhaps be more helpful in executing her suggestions. But I sped through it and really enjoyed it, and do recommend.
[Immediate ETA: I loved the attention paid to grief, in that realizing your mental and physical and emotional limitations are real you must also realize that they limit your capacities, and that sometimes that means doing or being less than you want to be. I think neurodivergence can come part and parcel with deep feelings of inadequacy or self-recrimination and to have the sorrow of that acknowledged is meaningful.
Second ETA: I was interested in this topic because I have Lived It and it Sucks profoundly and I'm glad to see it being treated as a real phenomenon with recognizable traits. Incredible! More of this!]
My criticisms:
1) Would have LOVED any exploration of how autistic people's needs intersect with the needs of the people around them - as I often find, books directed at autistic people underplay the struggle not of just "being misunderstood" but in how the needs, emotions, expressions and experiences of two people can negatively intersect even when neither person is being "bad on purpose" or dislikes the other. The social aspect of autism is significant enough that I would just really really really love a book that says "Other people around you might also think and feel things and here is how to work with that reality."
2) Mentions (only once) using AI as a accessibility tool and I'm sorry but it's evil. I know it's your friend but it wants to kill life on earth. In a few years you will have to summarize the notes yourself, or ask a friend, if we are not dead from the water all being gone.
3) Many many many mental health practitioners like to explain the nervous system as "we have prey instincts from the Distant Past and now we engage them because of our Office Jobs instead." That may be true but there's this pervasive unwillingness or inability that apparently all clinicians have to spend even one sentence saying, "Of course you may live in 2025 and still experience ongoing threats to your life, and you may be responding to those, in which case it's still good to have skills that help you mentally survive that." Because hello? Many people do in fact live under the constant threat of death.
4) Like I said, this is best as a framework for beginning detailed and exhaustive work with other tools and resources. I wish she listed more resources! She cites some good clinicians and sites briefly but could have had a whole list of recommendations at the end and that would have been grand. Who, indulging in their special interest of psych resources, does not love a big fat bibliography?
(EEL, ARE WORKBOOKS SUPPOSED TO BE READ COVER TO COVER IN TWO HOURS?)
[Immediate ETA: I loved the attention paid to grief, in that realizing your mental and physical and emotional limitations are real you must also realize that they limit your capacities, and that sometimes that means doing or being less than you want to be. I think neurodivergence can come part and parcel with deep feelings of inadequacy or self-recrimination and to have the sorrow of that acknowledged is meaningful.
Second ETA: I was interested in this topic because I have Lived It and it Sucks profoundly and I'm glad to see it being treated as a real phenomenon with recognizable traits. Incredible! More of this!]
My criticisms:
1) Would have LOVED any exploration of how autistic people's needs intersect with the needs of the people around them - as I often find, books directed at autistic people underplay the struggle not of just "being misunderstood" but in how the needs, emotions, expressions and experiences of two people can negatively intersect even when neither person is being "bad on purpose" or dislikes the other. The social aspect of autism is significant enough that I would just really really really love a book that says "Other people around you might also think and feel things and here is how to work with that reality."
2) Mentions (only once) using AI as a accessibility tool and I'm sorry but it's evil. I know it's your friend but it wants to kill life on earth. In a few years you will have to summarize the notes yourself, or ask a friend, if we are not dead from the water all being gone.
3) Many many many mental health practitioners like to explain the nervous system as "we have prey instincts from the Distant Past and now we engage them because of our Office Jobs instead." That may be true but there's this pervasive unwillingness or inability that apparently all clinicians have to spend even one sentence saying, "Of course you may live in 2025 and still experience ongoing threats to your life, and you may be responding to those, in which case it's still good to have skills that help you mentally survive that." Because hello? Many people do in fact live under the constant threat of death.
4) Like I said, this is best as a framework for beginning detailed and exhaustive work with other tools and resources. I wish she listed more resources! She cites some good clinicians and sites briefly but could have had a whole list of recommendations at the end and that would have been grand. Who, indulging in their special interest of psych resources, does not love a big fat bibliography?
(EEL, ARE WORKBOOKS SUPPOSED TO BE READ COVER TO COVER IN TWO HOURS?)
July 30, 2025
THIS IS SO IT
June 12, 2025
Helpful tips for those tottering on (or well over) the tipping point, of a neurospicy persuasion or otherwise.
June 28, 2025
Unfortunately the audiobook misses a lot of the book which is very frustrating, but i think the complete version is probably a super useful book.
May 14, 2025
Everything Dr. Megan Anna Neff publishes is gold, and this workbook is no exception. Well researched, grounded in lived experience, thoughtfully organized, and beautifully designed.
The essence of what autistic burnout is, how we end up there, and the various elements we need to attune to in order to recover -- all of this is laid out in a clear, compassionate, and actionable manner; and visual aids make it easy, even enjoyable, for tired eyes and brains to absorb the information.
Highly recommended for any "high-masking" autistic adult, as well as anyone who loves an autistic adult.
The essence of what autistic burnout is, how we end up there, and the various elements we need to attune to in order to recover -- all of this is laid out in a clear, compassionate, and actionable manner; and visual aids make it easy, even enjoyable, for tired eyes and brains to absorb the information.
Highly recommended for any "high-masking" autistic adult, as well as anyone who loves an autistic adult.
October 17, 2025
it's exactly the book I was needing. I got it from the library but I hadn't gotten two chapters in before I knew I would buy a copy- I ended up getting multiple for others.
it is a step-by-step guide for how to understand yourself better -internally and in the world- and what to do with that knowledge so you can function more efficiently (read: NOT get more done, but to get what's needed done without over exhausting yourself) .
im
it is a step-by-step guide for how to understand yourself better -internally and in the world- and what to do with that knowledge so you can function more efficiently (read: NOT get more done, but to get what's needed done without over exhausting yourself) .
im
October 27, 2025
Amazing resource! Highly recommend getting this book if you are on the cusp or early stages of burnout so you can get familiar with the tools BEFORE it gets bad. I KNOW, I know. 😅
I know that’s a big ask, but it may be overwhelming if you’re deep enough in burnout that opening a book feels like too much. That said, it’s very very structured (Dr. Neff gets it, obviously), so it’s possible to work your way through it in chunks and support yourself at your own pace.
I know that’s a big ask, but it may be overwhelming if you’re deep enough in burnout that opening a book feels like too much. That said, it’s very very structured (Dr. Neff gets it, obviously), so it’s possible to work your way through it in chunks and support yourself at your own pace.
December 5, 2025
This was an excellent and highly detailed workbook that really helps you to understand yourself and your needs. The explanations and worksheets were clear, meticulous and practical, enabling you to create actionable plans moving forwards. I honestly think this book will be a very helpful reference tool for me, both now and in the future.
March 25, 2025
Possibly my favorite book on autism yet. It described the issue I’ve been struggling with for so long so well and managed to be both succinct and thorough about solutions.
This is definitely the kind of book you own and revisit often.
This is definitely the kind of book you own and revisit often.
September 27, 2025
Sweet goodness, I got everything I wanted and needed: information presented in multiple ways, actionable steps, reflective prompts. Amazing to read with my partner to develop shared language and strategies. Out of all the autism books available, this is a must read.
August 1, 2025
helpful for giving names to what I was experiencing. lots of lists and prompts to consider!
November 1, 2025
Very helpful & affirming w downloadable PDF workbook
November 25, 2025
Molt fàcil de llegir i seguir, exemples clars i eines útils
December 3, 2025
brilliant
November 9, 2025
Where have you been my whole life😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
December 17, 2025
Word of advice: skip this one if you use audiobooks!
The book isn't available digitally except for audiobook, which as other reviewers have pointed out misses a lot of information as compared to the print version. There is no reference in the audiobook on when to fill out the worksheets available for download, so you will miss a lot if you're an audiobook listener.
This could be solved with an e-book, but it isn't available (at least in my country).
The book isn't available digitally except for audiobook, which as other reviewers have pointed out misses a lot of information as compared to the print version. There is no reference in the audiobook on when to fill out the worksheets available for download, so you will miss a lot if you're an audiobook listener.
This could be solved with an e-book, but it isn't available (at least in my country).
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews