Neurodivergent Burnout and Relationships: Withdrawal, Conflict and Connection

Neurodivergent burnout can change how someone communicates, participates in daily life and experiences closeness. A person who once replied quickly may leave messages unanswered. Shared plans may feel impossible, affection may become less spontaneous and ordinary conversations may use more energy than they can access.

These changes are easy to interpret as relationship messages. Silence can feel like rejection. Reduced affection can feel like loss of love. Difficulty contributing to household tasks can look like indifference, while repeated requests for reassurance can feel like another demand to the person who is already depleted.

This article explains how autistic, ADHD and AuDHD burnout can affect relationships, why reduced capacity creates predictable misunderstandings and how both people can protect connection without ignoring practical needs or healthy boundaries. Although the strongest impact is often felt in romantic relationships, many of the same patterns can affect friendships and family relationships.

🧭 What You Will Learn

🪫 How burnout changes communication, emotional availability and everyday participation
🚪 Why withdrawal is often misread as rejection or lack of care
🔥 How a reduced emotional buffer contributes to conflict
🧺 Why household and planning responsibilities can become unbalanced
🤍 How burnout may affect affection, intimacy and social connection
🔄 Which relationship cycles commonly develop around reduced capacity
💬 How to communicate without demanding immediate processing
🤝 How to support recovery while preserving autonomy and reciprocity
🧱 Why understanding burnout does not remove the need for boundaries
🌱 How to repair connection gradually as capacity begins to return

🧭 In brief

Neurodivergent burnout can reduce access to speech, emotional regulation, planning, sensory tolerance and social energy. The resulting withdrawal, irritability and inconsistency may be interpreted as a change in love or commitment, even when they primarily reflect reduced capacity.

Relationships become safer when both people distinguish capacity from intention, reduce unnecessary pressure, communicate more clearly and agree on temporary ways to manage practical responsibilities.

Burnout can explain behaviour, but it does not excuse threats, control, intimidation or repeated harm. Sustainable support protects both people.

🔬 Evidence in One Minute

✅ Autistic burnout research describes severe exhaustion, reduced functioning and lower tolerance for sensory and social demands.
✅ Acceptance, reduced expectations, time away from demands and social support are repeatedly associated with recovery.
✅ Autism relationship studies identify communication, mutual respect, safety, shared understanding and practical support as important facilitators of closeness.
✅ ADHD relationship research connects emotion regulation difficulties, stress and hostile conflict with lower relationship quality.
🟡 Direct research focused specifically on neurodivergent burnout within romantic relationships remains limited.
⚠️ Burnout may intensify relationship difficulties, but not every relationship problem is caused by burnout or neurodivergence.

👀 How Neurodivergent Burnout Can Affect Relationships

Burnout rarely affects only energy. It can change which forms of connection and participation are accessible.

A person may still care deeply while having less capacity to show that care in their usual ways. They may struggle to initiate contact, process another person’s emotions, make plans or tolerate physical and conversational input.

Possible changes include:

📱 fewer messages and delayed replies
🗣️ shorter or less expressive communication
🚪 more time alone
📅 frequent cancellations
🎧 lower tolerance for shared noise, touch or activity
🔥 increased irritability during ordinary conversations
🧊 emotional numbness or shutdown
🧺 reduced participation in household tasks
🧠 difficulty remembering commitments or previous discussions
💬 less capacity for reassurance and emotional processing
🤍 reduced interest in affection or physical intimacy
🛏️ needing recovery immediately after work or social contact

The person may also become inconsistent. They might have an engaged conversation one evening and be unable to speak much the next day. They may enjoy time with a partner but still need several hours alone afterwards.

This variation is not automatically a sign that the relationship is unsafe or unwanted. Burnout changes the amount and type of capacity available in each moment.

For a broader explanation of the condition, read Neurodivergent Burnout: Signs, Causes and Recovery.

🧠 Why Reduced Capacity Is So Easily Misread

Relationships depend heavily on interpretation. We do not only notice what another person does. We assign meaning to it.

When a partner replies less, one person may think:

💭 “They do not want to talk to me.”

The burnt out person may be experiencing:

💭 “I care, but finding the right words feels impossible.”

When affection decreases, one person may think:

💭 “They are no longer attracted to me.”

The burnt out person may be experiencing:

💭 “Touch and conversation are using sensory capacity I do not have.”

When household tasks remain undone, one person may think:

💭 “They expect me to do everything.”

The burnt out person may be experiencing:

💭 “I cannot organise the steps, but I feel ashamed every time I see the task.”

Intent and impact can therefore diverge. Reduced capacity may explain the behaviour, while the effect on the other person remains real.

Healthy communication needs room for both truths:

💛 “This is not necessarily a rejection.”
🧱 “This is still affecting me and needs to be addressed.”

🚪 Withdrawal and Silence During Burnout

Withdrawal can be one of the most painful relationship changes because it removes many of the usual signals of connection.

The person may withdraw because:

🪫 social interaction requires more energy than they have
🗣️ explaining the burnout feels impossible
🎧 conversation adds sensory and cognitive input
💔 they feel ashamed about their reduced functioning
🔥 they fear becoming irritable or overwhelmed
📱 unanswered messages have accumulated into a larger task
🧊 shutdown has reduced access to speech or emotion
🛑 they are trying to prevent further overload

Withdrawal can provide necessary recovery. It can also leave partners, friends and relatives uncertain about whether contact is still wanted.

The solution is rarely to force continuous communication or disappear indefinitely. A small amount of predictable information can protect both space and connection.

Useful scripts include:

💬 “I need quiet and cannot talk properly right now. This is about capacity, not about wanting to leave the relationship.”
💬 “I will check in tomorrow afternoon, even if I can only send a short message.”
💬 “You do not need to solve this. I need less interaction for the next few hours.”
💬 “I am not ready to discuss the issue, but I have not forgotten it.”

A pause feels safer when it includes a clear indication of how and when contact will resume.

🔥 Burnout Shrinks the Emotional Buffer

During burnout, small events can trigger much stronger emotional reactions than usual. The person has less capacity to pause, interpret nuance, regulate distress and recover after friction.

A question such as “Did you call the doctor?” may be heard as criticism. A change of plan may feel like the final unmanageable demand. A partner’s disappointment may trigger shame, defensiveness or complete withdrawal.

The other person may then feel that they must communicate perfectly to avoid a reaction. This can create tension and self-censorship throughout the relationship.

A smaller emotional buffer can involve:

🔥 faster irritation
💔 greater rejection sensitivity
😰 more anxiety about conflict
🧊 shutting down when emotion becomes complex
🗣️ speaking more sharply or urgently
🔁 replaying disagreements for much longer
🫥 difficulty recognising the other person’s perspective in the moment

These reactions are understandable under severe load, but they still require care. Burnout does not make the other person responsible for absorbing every emotional reaction.

When the emotional buffer is low, shorten difficult conversations, reduce the number of issues discussed at once and return to complex topics after regulation. Why Burnout Shrinks Your Emotional Buffer explores this mechanism in more depth.

🧺 Household Roles and the Unequal Load Problem

Burnout can make cooking, cleaning, administration, shopping and planning much harder. Tasks that once happened automatically may now require more executive capacity than the person can access.

As one person’s functioning falls, the other may begin doing more. This can be necessary in the short term, but the arrangement can become painful when it is unclear, indefinite or unacknowledged.

The supporting partner may feel:

🧺 responsible for every practical task
🧠 burdened by all planning and remembering
💳 anxious about finances or missed obligations
💔 unseen because the burnout dominates the relationship
😣 guilty for feeling frustrated
🔥 resentful about an arrangement they did not choose

The burnt out partner may feel:

💔 ashamed about contributing less
🧱 unable to begin tasks despite wanting to help
😰 afraid that every conversation will become a performance review
🫥 invisible except as a problem to be managed
🚨 driven to overpromise and then crash again

A vague agreement to “do what you can” is often not enough. The couple needs a temporary minimum structure.

Discuss:

🚨 which tasks are essential
📅 which tasks can wait
🤝 which tasks can be shared or delegated
💳 which responsibilities carry serious consequences
🧱 what the supporting partner cannot continue doing alone
🔄 when the arrangement will be reviewed

Temporary inequality is not automatically unfair. An arrangement becomes less sustainable when the unequal contribution is denied, treated as limitless or never reviewed.

🔄 Common Relationship Cycles During Burnout

Burnout often creates repeating loops in which each person’s attempt to protect themselves increases the other person’s distress.

🚪 The Pursue and Withdraw Cycle

One person experiences silence as danger and asks for more contact, explanation or reassurance. The burnt out person experiences these requests as additional pressure and withdraws further.

The increased withdrawal confirms the first person’s fear, so they pursue more urgently.

Interrupting the cycle requires both reassurance and containment. The burnt out person can provide a minimal sign of connection, while the other person respects an agreed pause.

🧺 The Overfunction and Collapse Cycle

The burnt out person struggles with tasks, so the partner takes over. Because the immediate crisis is solved, the arrangement expands. The supporting partner eventually becomes exhausted or resentful, while the burnt out person loses confidence and participation.

Support becomes healthier when tasks are named explicitly, reviewed regularly and returned gradually when capacity changes.

🚨 The Promise and Crash Cycle

Shame or conflict creates urgency. The burnt out person promises to do more, becomes intensely productive for a short period and then crashes.

The partner sees temporary improvement and expects the new level to continue. When it does not, trust decreases.

A smaller reliable commitment is more valuable than a large promise made under emotional pressure.

💬 The Explain and Defend Cycle

The burnt out person tries to explain every mechanism behind their behaviour. The other person experiences the explanation as avoidance of impact. They push harder for accountability, so the burnt out person explains even more.

A more effective response separates explanation from responsibility:

💬 “Burnout is part of why this happened. I also understand how it affected you. Let us decide what needs to change now.”

🔥 The Conflict and Shutdown Cycle

One person raises a concern. The burnt out person becomes overloaded and shuts down. The concern remains unresolved, so it is raised again with greater urgency. The increased intensity makes another shutdown more likely.

This cycle needs a pause agreement that protects regulation without allowing every difficult subject to disappear.

Overload in Neurodivergent Relationships provides a detailed framework for recognising and interrupting these conflict loops.

💬 Communicating When Capacity Is Low

Good communication during burnout is not necessarily deep or lengthy. It is clear enough to reduce uncertainty without demanding more processing than either person can manage.

🗣️ Discuss One Issue at a Time

Avoid combining chores, communication, intimacy, finances and several previous conflicts into one conversation. Even when the issues are connected, addressing them together can make resolution impossible.

Choose the most urgent topic and define the desired outcome before beginning.

⏳ Separate the Pause From Avoidance

A useful pause includes:

🧭 a clear statement that the conversation matters
🛑 an agreed end to the current discussion
⏰ an approximate time to reconnect
📖 permission to continue in writing if easier
🚩 a faster response when safety is involved

A pause should reduce overload, not become a way to avoid every uncomfortable conversation.

📖 Use Written Information Carefully

Writing can provide processing time and reduce the pressure of immediate speech. It is especially useful for practical agreements, schedules and summaries of what was decided.

Long emotional messages can still overwhelm. Keep essential information structured and avoid sending several new issues while waiting for a reply.

💛 Name Both Intention and Impact

Helpful phrases include:

💬 “I know you did not intend to reject me. The long silence still affected me.”
💬 “I understand that questions are difficult right now. I still need some way to know when we will reconnect.”
💬 “I am not asking you to function normally. I am asking us to agree on the minimum that protects both of us.”
💬 “I care about your burnout and I also need us to address what happened.”

This prevents the conversation from becoming a choice between validating burnout and validating the relationship.

🤍 Affection, Touch and Physical Intimacy

Burnout may change the person’s experience of touch, sexuality and closeness. Sensory tolerance may shrink, body awareness may become less reliable and the energy required for physical intimacy may no longer be available.

Reduced interest can be affected by:

🪫 exhaustion
🎧 increased touch sensitivity
🧠 difficulty shifting attention into intimacy
💊 medication effects
🌧️ depression or anxiety
💔 unresolved conflict
🫥 disconnection from bodily signals
🛏️ sleep disruption
🎭 pressure to perform affection normally

A change in intimacy should not automatically be interpreted as rejection, but it also should not be ignored. The partner may need reassurance, information and other forms of closeness.

Low demand connection might include:

🤝 holding hands briefly
🛋️ sitting together without conversation
📺 watching something familiar
🎧 sharing a quiet room while doing separate activities
💬 sending affectionate messages
🫂 choosing predictable forms of touch
🌙 spending a short period together before separate recovery time

Consent remains essential. Burnout is not a reason to pressure someone into physical contact, and reduced capacity does not mean that the other partner must suppress their feelings indefinitely. Honest discussion can distinguish temporary limits from deeper relationship concerns.

Research on autistic intimacy suggests that communication, safety, respect and shared understanding are important facilitators of emotional and physical closeness (Sala et al., 2020).

📅 Social Plans and Competing Recovery Needs

Burnout can dramatically reduce the capacity available for shared plans. One partner may need to cancel events and spend more time at home, while the other becomes lonely or feels that the relationship has stopped.

The answer does not have to be complete participation or complete isolation.

Possible adaptations include:

⏳ shorter visits
🚪 clear exit plans
🚗 separate transport
🏠 alternating shared and separate activities
👥 meeting one person instead of a group
🎧 choosing quieter environments
📅 planning recovery before and after events
🤝 allowing one partner to attend alone without guilt

The supporting partner is allowed to maintain friendships, interests and activities outside the relationship. The burnt out partner is allowed to decline activities that exceed their capacity.

Connection becomes more sustainable when neither person’s entire social life depends on the other matching their current energy.

🤝 What the Burnt Out Person Can Do

Severe burnout may limit what you can offer, but even small amounts of clarity can protect the relationship.

Try to:

💬 explain that reduced contact reflects capacity when that is true
⏳ give an approximate reconnection time when you request space
🧺 acknowledge additional work the other person is carrying
🎯 make small commitments you can realistically repeat
🛑 recognise when a conversation needs to pause before escalation
📖 use written communication if speech is inaccessible
🤝 accept specific help without transferring every responsibility indefinitely
🧱 respect the other person’s limits and safety

You do not need to produce a complete explanation of your internal state. You do need to communicate enough to reduce avoidable uncertainty where possible.

A useful script is:

💬 “My capacity is very low, and I cannot participate in the way I normally would. I still care about us. For this week, I can reliably manage one check in each evening and one household task. Let us review it on Sunday.”

💛 What a Partner or Supporter Can Do

Support is most useful when it reduces pressure without removing autonomy.

Helpful responses include:

🤝 offering one or two specific forms of practical help
🗣️ using clear questions rather than vague emotional demands
⏳ allowing extra processing time
🎧 respecting sensory and recovery needs
📅 making contact predictable
🧺 discussing responsibilities directly rather than silently taking over
🌿 maintaining parts of your own routine and support network
🧱 setting limits before resentment becomes severe

Avoid assuming that productivity in one area proves full capacity. A person may complete urgent work while remaining unable to manage emotional processing or household tasks.

The complete guide Supporting Someone With Neurodivergent Burnout explains practical support, communication and supporter boundaries in more detail.

📝 Create a Temporary Relationship Plan

A brief plan can reduce repeated negotiation when both people are exhausted.

Include:

💬 the minimum level of communication each person needs
🚪 how space will be requested
⏳ when paused conversations will resume
🧺 how essential tasks will be divided temporarily
📅 which plans will be cancelled or simplified
🤍 which forms of connection remain manageable
🤝 who else can offer practical or emotional support
🚩 which behaviours require immediate boundaries
🔄 when the arrangement will be reviewed

Keep the plan modest. A complicated relationship recovery system can become another source of pressure.

An example might be:

💬 “For the next two weeks, we will have one short evening check in. Difficult discussions will be scheduled rather than started late at night. Meals will be simplified, family visits will be paused and household tasks will be divided around current capacity. We will review this next Sunday.”

The plan should be temporary but renewable. Recovery timelines can change, and both people need opportunities to update what is manageable.

🧱 Burnout Explains Behaviour but Does Not Excuse Harm

Burnout can contribute to withdrawal, reduced patience, sharp communication and emotional dysregulation. Understanding those mechanisms can reduce shame and improve problem solving.

It does not make the following acceptable:

🚩 threats
🚩 intimidation
🚩 insults or humiliation
🚩 physical aggression
🚩 destruction of property
🚩 controlling another person’s movements or relationships
🚩 sexual pressure
🚩 repeated disregard for consent or safety

A clear boundary may sound like:

💬 “I understand that you are overloaded. I will not continue while I am being insulted.”
💬 “You may take space, but you cannot threaten me.”
💬 “We can return to the issue later. I am leaving the room because this no longer feels safe.”

Burnout support should make the relationship safer, not require one person to tolerate harm in order to prove that they understand neurodivergence.

🌱 Repairing Connection During Recovery

Relationship recovery often needs to move more slowly than either person wants. The goal is not to force the relationship back to its previous form immediately.

Begin with small reliable forms of connection:

💬 one predictable check in
🤍 one manageable expression of affection
🧺 one clearly completed responsibility
📅 one low demand shared activity
⏳ one difficult conversation with a defined end
🙏 one specific acknowledgement or apology

Repair becomes more credible through repeatability rather than intensity.

A large emotional conversation can feel meaningful, but trust often returns through smaller experiences: a pause that is followed by reconnection, a promise that is kept and a need that can be expressed without punishment.

When discussing harm that occurred during burnout, use four parts:

👀 Name what happened: “I stopped communicating for several days.”
💛 Acknowledge the impact: “I understand that this left you frightened and alone.”
🧠 Explain without erasing responsibility: “I was in shutdown and could not organise a response, but I still need a better plan.”
🛠️ Agree on a change: “Next time I will send the saved message and tell you when I expect to check in.”

Repair does not require pretending that the person had full capacity. It requires taking the other person’s experience seriously and building a more protective response.

🧑‍⚕️ When Relationship Support May Help

Professional support may be useful when:

🚩 every important discussion ends in shutdown or escalation
🚩 the same conflict cycle repeats without repair
🚩 household and caregiving responsibilities have become unsustainable
🚩 intimacy changes cannot be discussed safely
🚩 one person has become the other’s only source of support
🚩 resentment is becoming more prominent than connection
🚩 depression, trauma or another condition is also affecting the relationship
🚩 either person feels controlled, frightened or emotionally unsafe
🚩 separation is being considered and clearer decision making is needed

A neurodivergent informed therapist should understand sensory processing, executive functioning, direct communication, masking and the difference between a regulating pause and punitive withdrawal.

Couples support should not be used to negotiate safety in an abusive relationship. Individual specialist support may be more appropriate when coercion, intimidation or violence is present.

🪞 Relationship Reflection Questions

🪫 Which forms of connection have become less accessible during burnout?
🚪 Is withdrawal being used for regulation, avoidance or both?
💬 How can space be requested without creating indefinite uncertainty?
🔥 Which conversations most often exceed the available emotional buffer?
🧺 Which practical responsibilities have changed, and have those changes been acknowledged?
🤍 Which forms of affection or intimacy remain manageable?
🔄 Which relationship cycle repeats most often?
🛑 What would help both people pause before conflict becomes overload?
🤝 Which support could come from outside the relationship?
🧱 Which boundaries are necessary for safety and sustainability?
🌱 What is one small form of connection that could be repeated reliably?
🔄 When will temporary arrangements be reviewed?

🌱 Conclusion: Reduced Capacity Is Not the Same as Reduced Love

Neurodivergent burnout can change almost every visible expression of connection. Communication may become sparse, shared responsibilities may become unequal and affection may be harder to access.

These changes can feel deeply personal even when they begin with exhaustion, sensory strain and reduced executive capacity.

Understanding burnout helps both people interpret the situation more accurately. Silence is not always rejection. Irritability is not always loss of love. Inconsistency is not always a lack of commitment.

At the same time, understanding does not remove impact. Partners still need information, practical fairness, emotional safety and some reliable path back to connection.

The most useful question is not only:

💭 “Does this person still care about me?”

It is also:

🧭 “What form of care is accessible now, and what structure will protect both of us while capacity is low?”

A relationship does not need constant intensity to remain connected. During burnout, safety may be built through short messages, clearer pauses, temporary task agreements and small promises that can genuinely be kept.

Connection can survive reduced capacity.

It becomes more likely to survive when neither person has to deny what the burnout is costing them.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

💛 Can neurodivergent burnout affect relationships?

Yes. Burnout can reduce communication, emotional regulation, sensory tolerance, planning capacity, affection and participation in everyday responsibilities.

These changes may create withdrawal, misunderstandings and conflict even when the person’s feelings about the relationship have not changed.

🚪 Why does someone withdraw during burnout?

Interaction may require more sensory, emotional and cognitive capacity than they currently have. Withdrawal can also be driven by shame, fear of conflict or difficulty explaining what is happening.

A short, predictable message can help distinguish necessary space from rejection.

🔥 Why are arguments worse during burnout?

Burnout reduces the emotional buffer available for uncertainty, frustration and complex processing. Small issues may therefore trigger stronger reactions or faster shutdown.

Shorter conversations, clearer language and agreed pauses can reduce escalation.

🧺 Is it normal for one partner to do more during burnout?

Temporary inequality may be necessary when one person’s capacity has fallen. The arrangement is more sustainable when the additional work is acknowledged, essential tasks are prioritised and responsibilities are reviewed regularly.

One partner should not be expected to carry everything indefinitely.

🤍 Why has physical affection or intimacy decreased?

Exhaustion, sensory sensitivity, sleep problems, medication, emotional strain and difficulty shifting attention can all affect affection and sexuality.

Discuss the change without pressure and explore forms of closeness that remain comfortable and consensual.

💬 How can I ask for space without hurting my partner?

Name the need, reassure them about the relationship when appropriate and provide a reconnection point.

For example: “I need two hours without conversation because I am overloaded. This is not about leaving the relationship. I will check in at eight.”

🧊 Is withdrawal the same as stonewalling?

Not always.

Shutdown may involve a genuine loss of access to speech and processing. Stonewalling can be a conflict behaviour used to disengage. Intent, available capacity and what happens after the pause all matter.

Read Stonewalling Versus Autistic Shutdown for a detailed comparison.

🧱 Does burnout excuse hurtful behaviour?

No. Burnout can explain reduced regulation or communication, but it does not excuse threats, aggression, intimidation, control or repeated violations of boundaries.

🌱 Can a relationship recover after burnout withdrawal?

Yes. Repair usually happens through acknowledgement, clearer communication, realistic expectations and small reliable reconnection rather than one intense conversation.

Some relationships also benefit from neurodivergent informed professional support.

🧑‍⚕️ When should a couple seek help?

Consider support when conflict repeatedly becomes overload, practical arrangements are unsustainable, intimacy cannot be discussed safely or resentment is steadily increasing.

Seek specialist individual help when coercion, threats or violence are present.

🧭 Where to Go Next

🔥 Understand Burnout and Reduced Capacity

🧭 Start with Neurodivergent Burnout: Signs, Causes and Recovery.
💛 Explore Why Burnout Shrinks Your Emotional Buffer.
⚙️ Understand Neurodivergent Burnout and Executive Collapse.
🎭 Learn how hidden compensation contributes in Neurodivergent Burnout and Masking Load.

💬 Understand Conflict and Withdrawal

🔄 Read Overload in Neurodivergent Relationships.
🧊 Compare Stonewalling and Autistic Shutdown.
🔥 Explore Neurodivergent Conflict Styles.
💔 Understand Rejection Sensitivity in Neurodivergent Relationships.
😰 Learn about Relationship Anxiety in Neurodivergent Adults.

🤝 Support Recovery and Connection

🤝 Share Supporting Someone With Neurodivergent Burnout with someone close to you.
🧭 Follow the Neurodivergent Burnout Recovery Plan.
🔄 Prepare for Burnout Relapse and Uneven Recovery.
🌡️ Choose practical support from 40 Neurodivergent Burnout Recovery Strategies.
🏠 Browse the complete Neurodivergent Burnout Learning Hub.

🎓 Follow a Guided Learning Path

🧭 Begin with the free Neurodivergent Burnout Basics course.
🪞 Map your relationship and communication load in the Neurodivergent Burnout Personal Profile course.
🌡️ Build practical recovery support in Neurodivergent Burnout Recovery Skills and Tools.
🛡️ Reduce future risk with Neurodivergent Burnout Prevention Skills and Tools.

📚 References

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📚 Canu, W. H., Tabor, L. S., Michael, K. D., Bazzini, D. G., and Elmore, A. L. (2014). Young adult romantic couples’ conflict resolution and satisfaction varies with partner’s attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder type. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 40(4), 509–524.

📚 Flory, K., Molina, B. S. G., Pelham, W. E., Gnagy, E., and Smith, B. (2006). Childhood ADHD predicts risky sexual behavior in young adulthood. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35(4), 571–577.

📚 Higgins, J. M., Arnold, S. R. C., Weise, J., Pellicano, E., and Trollor, J. N. (2021). Defining autistic burnout through experts by lived experience: Grounded Delphi method investigating #AutisticBurnout. Autism, 25(8), 2356–2369.

📚 Knies, K., Bodalski, E. A., and Flory, K. (2021). Romantic relationships in adults with ADHD: The effect of partner attachment style on relationship quality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(1), 42–64.

📚 Mantzalas, J., Richdale, A. L., and Dissanayake, C. (2022). A conceptual model of risk and protective factors for autistic burnout. Autism Research, 15(6), 976–987.

📚 Raymaker, D. M., Teo, A. R., Steckler, N. A., Lentz, B., Scharer, M., Delos Santos, A., Kapp, S. K., Hunter, M., Joyce, A., and Nicolaidis, C. (2020). “Having All of Your Internal Resources Exhausted Beyond Measure and Being Left with No Clean-Up Crew”: Defining Autistic Burnout. Autism in Adulthood, 2(2), 132–143.

📚 Sala, G., Hooley, M., and Stokes, M. A. (2020). Romantic intimacy in autism: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(11), 4133–4147.

📚 Smith, R., Netto, J., Gribble, N. C., and Falkmer, M. (2021). “At the End of the Day, It’s Love”: An exploration of relationships in neurodiverse couples. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51(9), 3311–3321.

📚 Whitton, S. W., Weitbrecht, E. M., Kuryluk, A. D., and Bruner, M. R. (2015). Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom levels and romantic relationship quality in college students. Journal of American College Health, 63(2), 98–108.