Beyond Autistic Burnout

A practical system for sustainable recovery
without quitting everything

How to recover from autistic burnout and break the cycle so you never have to go through it again.
So you can function. | So you can work. | So you can think. | So you can have energy. | So you can live. | So you can build the life you want.

When life is a struggle

Can I take a moment to acknowledge that this life thing really is hard. So damn hard. And flippin’ unfair. Especially when you're Autistic or AuDHD and maybe managing other disabilities and marginalized identities on top of it all!

It’s not just the exhaustion. (As if that’s not enough.) Everything’s hard. Dragging yourself to work. Dealing with family. Leaving the house feels like preparing to climb Mount Everest. Even friggin’ getting the mail involves so many steps.

I’m guessing you’ve already cut back so much in your life, but it’s never enough. 

How do other people manage??

It's not you

No, you’re NOT broken, defective, weak, or the only one struggling like this.

This modern world wasn’t built for your neurotype, your needs, how your brain and nervous system function, or your identity. 

And let’s be honest. A lot of the standard advice essentially boils down to, “You should practice self-care so you can continue the charade of being "normal" longer.” 

That’s just another way to squish your Autistic peg into yet another neuronormative hellhole, and then blame you when it doesn’t work.

FROM MY COACHING CLIENTS

"I've gone from a hapless, hopeless, defeated blob of burnout to actively helping to run my household, have a better relationship with my husband, and am able to better help my kid. I still don't quite understand how, but your guidance got me there."
Amy T.
AuDHD, 38

I have a different take on it

By the way, I’m Heather, I’m Autistic and ADHD, I live with chronic pain from EDS, have sensory processing differences, a history of CPTSD that I've spent years healing from, and have a smattering of other labels and non-conforming identities.

Since I experience the world differently, I have a different take on what people like me need to live our best life. And yes, that is possible.

I work with other later identified Autistics and AuDHDers to break through a lifetime of neurotypical expectations, figure out who they are without the mask, build healthier relationships that feel good to their Autistic communication style, and recover from burnout. To create a life they love to live.

How I know burnout

I know this burnout stuff so intimately because I’ve been through two major, life-halting burnouts, and a dozen smaller ones throughout my life, and struggled for years to find anything that would help provide more than minor, temporary relief.

In fact, it was a few, small, key changes, that built up over time, that made the biggest difference. 

But I didn’t get my life back.

By which I mean, I didn’t go back to the damaging, ableist lifestyle that had hurt me over and over.

Instead, I created a Second Chance Life that actually feels good.

It took years of trial and error, experimentation, and refining, to sort out what actually worked from what just claimed it would, but didn’t, and to get clear on why that worked so I could reproduce it, and to test that it wasn’t just me, that this works for many other Autistics as well.

Hence, my system for autistic burnout recovery.
“When I first began sessions with Heather I had made my life as small as I could, but it was still completely unmanageable. I was being crushed by five decades of burnout and trauma. Heather’s gentle, patient guidance opened a space for me to recognize my sensory needs and my energy cues, and she legitimized honoring them in ways that work specifically for me.

Seventeen months on, I’m holding an active role in a community organization—something I didn’t think was possible. I’m feeling more capable and noticing that I’m gassing out and suffering less. This is exactly what I’d hoped for: real, sustainable improvement.“
Adrien C.
Autistic, 51

The system

My autistic burnout recovery system offers:

1. Super practical options for day-to-day relief in the five key areas of burnout recovery.

Including, what to cut back on that will really make a difference. And what to do on the bad days. (Let's be realistic. They're still gonna happen.)

2. How to unlearn the damaging, untrue messages from the capitalist, colonized, ableist, neurotypical, and traumatized standards (the CAN’T world) that do not serve you. Without gaslighting yourself.

3. Going just deep enough (this isn't therapy) to find your two or three key personal insights that will make a big difference.

4. How to learn what works for you so you can transfer small bits of energy to building your autism- and neurodivergence-positive life (your PLAN life).
You'll also get help on how to communicate what you are going through with family, work, and others.

And of course, how to make your changes permanent, for sustainable burnout recovery and relapse prevention.

This all comes wrapped up in a neurodivergent-friendly, trauma-sensitive experience.

The five areas

The way I see it, sustainable burnout recovery isn't just about resting more, taking time off, bubble baths, or meds.

I propose a holistic approach to addressing the five areas that I believe are essential for sustained burnout recovery, designed specifically for the challenges that we face as Autistics and AuDHDers, especially when you’ve struggled for decades not knowing this key part of who you are.

The five key, interrelated areas are:

• Noticing and dissolving internalized ableism and other negative messaging.

• Masking/camouflaging/shielding less, to the extent that it is safe, when it is available to you. This includes figuring out what’s you and what’s the mask, and what you need/want.

• Figuring out and accommodating your sensory needs.
Increasing useful internal awareness, so you can know what you need in real time.

• Increasing useful internal awareness, so you can know what you need in real time.

• Energy management, to use your energy intentionally for only what is worth it to you.

In my autistic burnout recovery system, each of these areas includes both unlearning, and learning components.

And I’ve tried to keep it super practical and realistic.
"I can truthfully say that working with Heather, there's been improvement in my own burnout recovery journey. Otherwise I'd be a lump of sad human. A Morn at Quarks. While maybe I'm not Rom the enthusiastic engineering prodigy, I'm at least later-seasons Sisko or mildly ungrumpy Worf!"
Dan F.
AuDHD, 43

What's in the course

You’ll get:

6 Months of live group day-long workshops, for a deep dive into that month’s focus area. 

  • • Each month we’ll focus on one of the five areas of burnout recovery, plus one month (the first) to introduce you to the system and the tools we’ll be using. 
  • • First Saturday of each month, from September through February. Five hours each, including breaks.°Recordings and human-edited transcripts available if you don’t come live. 

6 Months of live group coaching calls, offering the chance to watch and experience the system in action. You’ll get:

  • • To practice the tools in action with live help.
  • • Watching others get coached can offer clarity and insights into our own situations, without having to be visible.
  • • Get the chance for some live coaching if you want it.
  • • Second Saturday of each month, from September through February. 90 Minutes each.
  • • Recordings and human-edited transcripts available if you don’t come live.
 
Brand new reflection prompts, thought exercises, worksheets, checklists, and spreadsheets that even my private clients haven’t gotten yet, to help you make progress faster and easier.

Explanations of autistic burnout to share with your work, family, and other support people, so you don’t have to explain as much! And scripts for continuing the conversation.

Built-in feedback opportunities to ask for what you need.
 
Anticipated time investment to get results: 1-3 hours per week, plus meetings.

Total value: $4,000+ (This is what my private clients have paid me for comparable results)

Likely future price of this course: $1,200

Your contribution is only: $500

Payment plans available.
You can do the entire course on your own if that works best for you, by watching/listening to/reading transcripts of the recordings. Or join us live to ask questions along the way.

Either way, you’ll get full access to all additional resources, examples, worksheets, journaling/reflection prompts, and more.

Does this seem like it would make a difference for you?

Are you ready?

Learn the skills and techniques to get out of autistic burnout for good!

Want more info?

For a more in-depth look at my philosophy of autistic burnout recovery, including all the juicy details of the course, dates and times, FAQs, etc. click here.

“Heather gives the absolute best advice. Doing the exercises from her Sensory Moments course helped bring my body back online after severe burnout, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that her guidance both saved and supercharged my marriage. I always have clarity after talking to her, I can't recommend Heather enough!”
Chase F.
Autistic, 45

Plus

Alongside the core of the program, you’ll also get a selection of super practical tools, including:

  • • Videos of me explaining autistic burnout to work and family, so you don’t have to do the heavy lifting of explaining everything. Plus scripts for follow-up discussions.
  • • A list of sensory products and DIY items that can be repurposed for your sensory-friendly life.
  • • How to create your own tool kit for managing the bad days.
  • • An extra module on dealing with holiday stress, to be released when it gets closer to the end of year holidays.
  • • Checklists, spreadsheets, and tip sheets.

And more, that I’ll release from time to time.
"I feel like I'm good now. I feel like I'm better. Things don't terrify me like they used to. I can try things and do things and it doesn't wipe me out. I can handle it. Even though I'm a bit scared for certain things. I'm handling it better than I would have. I just feel like I'm going to be fine. And it's because of talking to you."
Leilah S.
Autistic, 27
"Before working with Heather, I struggled. On any given day, I could (maybe) work, feed myself, or engage in a social activity or hobby. But not all three. Or even two, on bad days. It felt like I was half of a functioning human, at best.

Fast forward. I just finished a normal 9-to-5 work day, and I'm about to bake oatmeal cookies. I have a game night planned with friends tomorrow. I'm not out of burnout. But I'm able to recognize what will nourish me, what I can't escape (like work), and most importantly, that it isn't a straight line to recovery. Ups and downs are part of it.

I was so angry during my years of autistic burnout, and I didn't even know what was really happening. So learning about myself has been essential, as well as all our work on unpacking traumas, and crafting tools, and really just being kind to myself and learning and growing, and having someone to help me.

TLDR Heather is the best 🧡"
Nick S.
AuDHD, 42

Want more info?

For a more in-depth look at my philosophy of autistic burnout recovery, including all the juicy details of the course, dates and times, FAQs, etc. click here.

Or are you ready?

Learn the skills and techniques to get out of autistic burnout for good!

About me

Heather Cook

Hi! I’m Autistic, AuDHD, disabled, and building a life I love.

I work with later identified Autistics and AuDHDers to break through a lifetime of neurotypical expectations, figure out who they are without the mask, build healthier relationships that feel good to their Autistic communication style, and recover from burnout. To create a life they love to live.
Patrick Jones - Course author