Supporting Autistic Kids in Distress: Meltdowns, Shutdowns, & Burnout

In this 3.25 hour recorded course, Amanda Diekman will teach you how to nurture your kids in their greatest moments of overwhelm and distress. You’ll learn how to recognize the signs of meltdowns, shutdowns, and burnout and how to bring your child back to safety, without working beyond your own capacity or neglecting your own overwhelm.

Enroll for $129 and get one year’s access on demand.

Adult and child playing doll house together

What This Course Covers

Meltdowns

A meltdown is a full body response to feeling overwhelmed. In a meltdown, our kids' nervous systems are in survival mode. They are going to fight for their lives or flee for safety. One way or another, they are physically releasing the energy of their intense emotions. When this happens, what is in our control, and how can we respond to signal safety to their nervous system? How can we turn down the temperature and bring the child back to safety?

Shutdowns

A shutdown is a type of distress that is often missed. A shutdown is an overwhelmed child, in survival brain, who is frozen. Instead of releasing their energy, it all goes inward. They may seem absent or withdrawn. Or they may become overly compliant. But this is an emotional crisis and a child who desperately needs to feel safe and resolve their sense of overwhelm. How do we help them find themselves again, self-advocate, and find safety without abandoning their inner feelings?

Burnout

Burnout is a long-term state of physical, emotional, and cognitive exhaustion. It's caused by ongoing stress and unmet needs. When our kids are in burnout, their energy is depleted, they are losing their skills, and they become more sensitive. How do we nurture a child in burnout back to their full, bright, safe selves? How do we prevent Autistic burnout?

So What Do We Do?

In this training, Amanda guides you through low-demand, effective, gentle strategies that help restore your child’s sense of safety, while nurturing your own nervous system and your own needs. This training will help you connect more deeply with yourself and with your child in the most overwhelmed and afraid moments that you share.

Learning from Amanda Deikman is like having a wise friend love you with their words. She speaks straight to the part of you who cares deeply about your child, and she speaks to the part of you that also gets shutdown, overwhelmed, and burned out. She speaks from her experience as a parent, and as someone who has deeply studied the needs of Autistic children in distress. This course will nurture your caregiver heart, and your distressed child.

Supporting Autistic Kids in Distress is for you if:

  • You recognize the signs of shutdowns, meltdowns, or burnout in your Autistic child, or an Autistic child you help care for
  • You are open to reducing demands, instead of increasing them, to help instill a felt sense of safety for your child
  • You want to learn from someone who has been there, and who cares deeply about your Autistic child’s wellbeing
  • You believe that slowing down and showing up for your child when they are in distress is worth it. And you want to do it without moving yourself into overwhelm, too.

About your instructor

Amanda Diekman

Amanda Diekman

Amanda Diekman (she/her) is a late-diagnosed autistic adult, mom of three, and a survivor of parenting-related PTSD who guides overwhelmed parents of neurodivergent kids through the transformative power of low demand parenting.

Amanda’s approach helps families move away from rigid expectations and toward nurturing trust, safety, and connection, with special expertise in helping kids in chronic distress. She empowers parents to prioritize their own mental health and wellness alongside supporting their children, helping them create environments where both parent and child can thrive.

Amanda draws from her personal journey, research, and practical strategies, making complex topics feel accessible and relatable. Amanda holds two Duke degrees, has authored countless academic papers, and holds a Masters in Theology. She is the author of Low Demand Parenting and hosts the Low Demand Parenting Summit, a free yearly online conference for parents seeking support and community.

FAQ

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for parents, caregivers, and para-professionals who support an Autistic person of any age. While we highly recommend this course for professionals as well, it is not approved for CE credit. If you’re looking for our courses for professionals, go here instead. We do not issue certificates of completion for our parent courses.

How long will I have access?

You'll have access for one year on demand.

Will this course help me with my PDAer?

Maybe! All PDAers are unique. This course is taught by a PDA autistic adult, parent to PDAers, and leans heavily on low demand methodology for healing. If your child responds well to autonomy, coregulation, and lowered demands, this course is likely to be supportive for you.

What's the refund policy?

We want to make sure our courses are meeting your needs. If you’ve watched less than half of the training and it’s been 30 days or less since your purchase and it’s not the right course for you, email us at parents@learnplaythrive.com for a full refund.

Does Learn Play Thrive provide therapy?

No. We are an education company. While we host guest instructors who may provide services, we do not arrange these through Learn Play Thrive. If you'd like to find a list of provides who have taken LPT courses, you can view our directory on our directory on our providers page.

What's the teaching methodology?

This course it taught via on-demand videos. It includes video examples and photos and is best watched (not just listened to).

How can I request disability accommodations?

All videos used in this presentation have closed captions. If you need additional accommodation, please email admin@learnplaythrive.com prior to your training date. Accommodations will be made to support all learners in compliance with the Americans with Disability Act.

Are there scholarship options?

Yes! We are still working on our scholarship program. If our courses aren’t affordable to you, make sure you’re on our email list and we’ll send out details when they are ready.

What are the system requirements to watch the trainings?

This training is hosted on Thinkific. You will need one of the two latest versions of a supported browser to access the course. (Note: Internet Explorer is not supported).

Desktop:

  1. Chrome
  2. Firefox
  3. Safari
  4. Microsoft Edge

Mobile:

  1. iOS Safari
  2. Chrome
  3. Samsung Internet

In order to ensure that Thinkific runs well, you will need:

  1. The most recent version of one of the web browsers listed above
  2. Javascript enabled
  3. PDF plugin
  4. Graphic and audio output capability
  5. Broadband internet connection with a minimum speed of 5Mbps (recommended)
  6. TLS 1.2 supported by your web browser

This information was adapted from: https://support.thinkific.com/hc/en-us/articles/360030354954-System-Requirements-and-Supported-Browsers

I have another question. How can I contact you?

You can reach our team by email at parents@learnplaythrive.com