Pathways to Autistic Burnout: A Qualitative Study of French Autistic Adults' Experiences
This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.
About the autistic author markerRebours, C. & Kruck, J. (2026). Pathways to Autistic Burnout: A Qualitative Study of French Autistic Adults' Experiences [Preprint]. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/7kw6j_v1
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Authors
Abstract
Purpose: Autistic burnout—a state of chronic exhaustion with functional loss and increased sensory sensitivity—has been identified as a significant yet underexplored phenomenon. While emerging research has documented potential contributors in Anglophone contexts, little is known about how autistic individuals in diverse institutional settings describe pathways to burnout. This study examined how French autistic adults identify and articulate factors contributing to their experiences of autistic burnout.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 67 French autistic adults (48 women, 11 men, 8 non-binary/agender/genderfluid; mean age 37.7 years; mean age at diagnosis 35.2 years). Interviews explored perceived contributors to burnout and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with an abductive approach.Results: Participants described burnout as emerging from cumulative exposure to unaccommodating environments rather than discrete triggering events. Key contributors included persistent sensory overload, social demands requiring sustained self-monitoring, camouflaging, and systemic barriers to recognition and support. Participants emphasized how chronic adaptation progressively depleted resources, with life transitions or micro-disruptions functioning as tipping points within already fragile equilibriums. Gendered experiences, particularly late diagnosis linked to gender-biased diagnostic frameworks, intensified burnout pathways for women and gender-diverse individuals.Conclusion: Autistic burnout reflects sustained adaptation to environments misaligned with autistic needs rather than individual deficit. Findings underscore the need for multilevel interventions addressing environmental barriers, reducing camouflaging pressures, and ensuring timely, accessible diagnostic and support systems. France's distinctive institutional landscape—marked by psychoanalytic legacies and diagnostic delays—may shape how universal burnout mechanisms manifest.
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