Understand Meltdowns

NeuroWild comic panel. Text at top left: 'What People see...' Three small cartoon pictures of a child with brown skin and brown hair, wearing a purple shirt and yellow trousers, in distress: lying on the floor with one arm stretched out and mouth open crying, sitting on the floor with arms thrown up crying, and kneeling hunched over with eyes squeezed shut. A light green bar runs along the bottom left and the NeuroWild logo is at the bottom right.

NeuroWild comic panel. Text at top: 'VS what is really happening.' The child with brown skin and brown hair, wearing a purple shirt and yellow trousers, sits with a distressed open mouth and a raised arm in a small boat on water. The boat is loaded with colored sacks labeled 'LAGGING SKILLS' (pink), 'EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION' (light green), 'SENSORY DYSREGULATION' (orange) and 'NEUROTYPICAL EXPECTATIONS' (purple). A light green bar runs along the bottom left and the NeuroWild logo is at the bottom right.

NeuroWild comic panel. Text at top: 'Kids do well when they can.' with 'when' and 'they can' underlined. The child with brown skin and brown hair, wearing a purple shirt, lies half in a boat full of sacks labeled 'SENSORY DYSREGULATION', 'NEUROTYPICAL EXPECTATIONS' and 'EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION', crying with an arm stretched out over the water. Text at the bottom: 'This child is doing as well as they can in this moment.' with 'as well as they can' and 'this moment' underlined. A light green bar runs along the bottom left and the NeuroWild logo is at the bottom right.

NeuroWild comic panel. A periwinkle blob in the middle of a white background dotted with pale pink grains reads: 'Want to see a really INEFFECTIVE way of 'supporting' this child?' with 'INEFFECTIVE' in bold. A light green bar runs along the bottom left and the NeuroWild logo is at the bottom right.

NeuroWild comic panel. A child with brown hair and a purple shirt sits looking down in a boat loaded with colored sacks labeled 'LAGGING SKILLS', 'EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION', 'SENSORY DYSREGULATION' and 'NEUROTYPICAL EXPECTATIONS'. A frowning adult with a brown bun, green top and blue trousers stands on a grassy bank and hands over two blue sacks labeled 'SHAME', adding to the load. Speech bubble from the adult: 'What a FUSS. I'm so disappointed in you. You need to make BETTER CHOICES. Your behaviour is unacceptable.' with 'FUSS', 'disappointed', 'BETTER CHOICES' and 'unacceptable' underlined. A light green bar runs along the bottom left and the NeuroWild logo is at the bottom right.

NeuroWild comic panel. Text at top: 'The BEST way to support our Neurodivergent kids is by LIGHTENING their load.' with 'LIGHTENING' and 'load' underlined. A smiling adult with a brown bun, green top and blue trousers kneels on a grassy bank, lifting a sack labeled 'EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION' out of a small boat, with sacks labeled 'SENSORY DYSREGULATION' and 'NEUROTYPICAL EXPECTATIONS' already set on the bank. A child with brown hair and a purple shirt sits in the boat with one remaining sack labeled 'LAGGING SKILLS'. The adult says: 'Let me help you, sweetheart.' A light green bar runs along the bottom left and the NeuroWild logo is at the bottom right.

NeuroWild infographic with a light green banner at top reading 'How can you LIGHTEN their load?' (with 'How' underlined, and rays around 'LIGHTEN'). Three numbered tips: '1. Learn about their sensory preferences and provide accommodations.' '2. Help your child regulate when they are experiencing big emotions.' '3. Don't let people hold your child to neurotypical expectations.' A light green bar runs along the bottom left and the NeuroWild logo is at the bottom right.

About The Artist

NeuroWild is a comic strip series created by Emily Hammond. Emily is a speech pathologist with ADHD and Autism herself and a proud mother to neurodivergent children. Click here to learn more about the artists we promote and how to support their work.