A guide to understanding and supporting the recovery of autistic burnout in children and young people

Jodie Clarke

With mental health crisis in autistic young people on the rise we need to accept that Living as an autistic person in a world that doesn't cater to your needs is exhausting at best and harmful at worst.

Autistic burnout is a common experience for autistic children and young people. This book, authored by a neurodivergent practitioner with firsthand experience as both an autism parent and researcher, delves into the recognition and management of burnout. It offers parents and professionals practical strategies to prevent autistic burnout and provides guidance on supporting those already in distress.

For every child that has been forced into school in pyjamas, for every parent blamed for their child's non-attendance, for every professional who wants to learn more and for every young person traumatized by those who thought they knew best - this book is for you.

"Jodie’s book is very easy to read and provides an excellent insight into autistic burnout, how to recognise it, why it happens, how it feels and mostly importantly how to help."

"This is a great resource written by someone who really understands autism and autistic burn out. I highly recommend it."

"Thank you Jodie for articulating so well this awful state of affairs too many of our neurodivergent children are experiencing. I will be buying copies for the Senco at my child's school!!"

"I recommend that everyone should read this book, I look forward to the day that it will be taught to all professionals that work or support autistic people. Jodie has provided something incredible here, it will now be my bible to support myself and children."

"I have a real love and hate relationship with this book. I love the way in which the book is written – the style, the content, the concepts, the autistic-affirmation, the wonderful tips, the intelligence – the list could go on. But I hate the fact that such a book in today’s society even needs to be written. Jodie does a magnificant job at identifying just how traumatic life can be for an autistic person, and how much of that trauma is caused at a young age. She also balances those distressing ideas with a persuasive narrative around what society can do about it. 

Enlightening, informative, and insightful throughout anyone reading this will learn something new about autism and, potentially, learn something that is life-changing.

I admit to being in the privileged position of knowing Jodie and have seen her re-wilding journey over the last few years. I am very aware of just how much she has to offer in terms of her expertise and knowledge, and this book is full of autistic wisdom that is imperative to share as widely as possible. Covering a whole range of topics, but with a clear focus on burnout and trauma, Jodie leads the reader through essential aspects of what autistic burnout is, why it currently exists, and what can be done about it.

At times deeply unsettling, Jodie’s narrative demonstrates just how important it is that society understands the perspective of the child through their own autistic lens; and she provides many examples of how differing experiences are likely to lead to very different outcomes. Whilst the subject of the book is what makes the text so unsettling, Jodie does a fabulous job at balancing this out with a positive spin, with genuinely useful suggestions as to how autistic children (and adults) can be supported (and to support themselves) to reduce risk of autistic burnout.

Jodie is not only a fantastic human being, she is also a very accomplished author. It’s been a few years since I was reading Jodie’s work for the first time, but the process has lost none of its appeal. Having excellent autism knowledge is fairly rare – having excellent autism knowledge along with the gift of being able to transfer that knowledge in an effective way is rarer still. In ‘Stop the World I want to Get Off!’ Jodie has completed a book that has extradinary richness and depth written in such a way to be eminently accessible to the reader.

Autistic children and young people are having a tough time currently. It is time for this wonderful population to thrive, not just survive. It is time that the ableist attitudes and lack of genuine knowledge to take a back seat, and for society as a whole to wake up to the current reality that is destroying autistic lives. With this book Jodie has set out a platform for change, and I am delighted to be one of the first people to have been given the chance to learn from it. Read this book; you won’t regret it."

Dr Luke Beardon

"This book is amazing. It explains so clearly and so informatively why and how autistic children struggle in school. You can be left in no doubt as to how this leads to Autistic burnout. It is a very supportive book for parents of those children that are struggling. This book should be in every school."

"Jodie writes with clarity and passion and every teacher should read this book and every family with an autistic person in their midst - we could all be so much happier."

"The combination of personal experience, deep knowledge, and relatable explanations makes this book both enlightening and incredibly useful."

"I love the examples and suggestions for support. I wish I’d read this years ago when I was teaching in school."

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During 2024 I moved to using Jodie Clarke for all of my work (website, training, research etc).