Autism tracking · Meltdowns & Shutdowns
A meltdown and shutdown tracker built around what came before
A meltdown is not a tantrum. A tantrum has an audience and a goal and stops when the goal is met; a meltdown is a nervous system past capacity, and it stops when it stops. Which matters for tracking, because the trigger is almost never the cause. The trigger is the last thing placed on top of a load that had been accumulating since about 8am.
For parents and carers, and autistic adults tracking their own overload.
Why this is hard to keep track of
- The trigger gets recorded and the six hours of accumulated load don't
- Shutdowns are quiet, so they go unlogged — and they are the same overload
- "How often?" gets answered from whichever week is most memorable, which is always the worst one
- Recovery time is what actually shapes the rest of the day, and nobody records it
Worth recording
- What preceded it across the whole day, not just the last five minutes
- Whether it was a meltdown or a shutdown — they look opposite and mean the same thing
- The warning signs that showed up first
- How long recovery took, and what helped it along
Cadence
Logged afterwards, when there's capacity — never during
In practice
Say it once, in whatever words you have
The moments most worth recording are the ones where filling in a form is the least realistic thing in the world. A sentence, typed or dictated afterwards, is a much lower bar — and it carries the context a checkbox would have lost.
Called 4 tools
log_event(type: "shutdown", duration_min: 120)log_antecedent("unplanned fire alarm test, am")log_warning_signs(["quiet in the car", "refused snack"])compare_periods(metric: "overload_events", split: "event_type")
Every figure here was counted from entries you made. The model picked which tools to call — it doesn't interpret, diagnose, or decide what anything means about anyone.
And then ask
The question the log can answer
Months of entries hold real answers to the questions you've been guessing at, and reading them properly has always meant a spreadsheet and a free evening — which is not a thing anyone in this situation has.
Ask in plain language. The answers come back with the numbers behind them, including when those numbers are too thin to mean anything yet — which is the more useful answer more often than people expect.
Called 3 tools
get_history(topic: "meltdowns", window: "6m")find_pattern(group_by: "antecedent")compare_periods(metric: "events")
Counts and averages over your own entries, nothing more. Where the data is confounded or too thin, the answer says so instead of rounding it into a conclusion.
The reason most people start
Something to actually bring to the appointment
You get fifteen minutes, once, after waiting months for it. The questions are specific and the honest answers are all some version of "I don't know, it's hard to say".
What this gives you: A count that isn't drawn from the worst week you can remember, split by meltdown and shutdown, with the antecedents attached.
- Export the date range you were asked about, as a file you can print
- Counts and timings rather than an impression of the worst week
- Your own notes kept alongside the numbers, in your words
- Nothing shared anywhere unless you choose to share it
What it won't do
- Diagnose anything, or suggest that it could
- Score a person, or rank them against anyone else
- Set a target for fewer events, or a streak of good days
- Recommend a treatment, a therapy, a diet or a medication change
- Share your record with a school, a clinician or anyone else on its own
It's a notebook that can do arithmetic and answer questions about itself. Deciding what any of it means is a job for you and the people advising you.
Early access
Start with what you're already trying to hold in your head
Tell us what you've been trying to keep track of and we'll set it up with you — recording the thing that's actually useful, at a cadence that survives a bad week.
- Founding accounts lock their price for life
- No card, no trial clock, no notifications designed to make you feel behind
- Export everything you've logged whenever you want
Also tracked
The rest of the picture
These overlap constantly, which is the point — the answer to a question about one of them is very often sitting in another one's data.
Behavior Tracking
Logged when there's a hand free, or dictated afterwards
Stimming
Noted when something changes, not counted all day
Sensory Triggers
Noted in the moment where possible, reviewed monthly
Tics
A rough note daily or weekly. Precision is not what makes this useful
Mood & Capacity
Once a day, in under a minute
Sleep
Two lines at night, one in the morning
School & Home
One line after school, most days
Keep the record without it becoming another job
Founding pricing is locked for accounts opened during early access.
Founding accounts lock their price for life. No card required.