The Metabolic Signal Test
Leviticus: Most “burnout tests” are designed for neurotypical standards of productivity. They ask if you’re “feeling blue” or “lacking motivation.” These are low-resolution metrics. For an autistic system, burnout is a structural mismatch between environmental noise and cognitive processing capacity.
If you are reading this, your system is likely already throwing exceptions. This test is designed to measure the depth of your neural debt.
1. Sensory Signal Degradation
The first sign of systemic failure is a drop in your ability to filter environmental data. This is not “being sensitive”; this is a hardware buffer overflow.
- The Fluorescent Hum: Can you hear the electricity in the walls more clearly than the person speaking in front of you?
- The Texture Barrier: Have fabrics that were previously “tolerable” become physically painful or abrasive?
- The Motion Blur: Does moving through a crowded space feel like your processing speed has dropped to 15 frames per second?
If you answered yes to two or more, your Sensory Filter Cache is empty. Your system is now processing raw, unfiltered noise.
2. Executive Function Stall
When a system runs out of energy, it prioritizes core survival over high-level processing. Executive function—the software that manages your life—is the first to be throttled.
- The Task Lock: Do you find yourself staring at a simple task (like a single email) for 45 minutes, unable to initiate the sequence?
- The Decision Crash: Does being asked “What do you want for dinner?” trigger an immediate, physical need to lie down in a dark room?
- The Memory Leak: Are you losing track of basic data—keys, passwords, names—that were previously stored in your short-term cache?
This is not a lack of willpower. This is Resource Throttling. Your brain is redirecting energy to keep your heart beating and your lungs breathing.
3. Social Latency (The Masking Fault)
Masking is a high-energy script that consumes massive amounts of CPU. In burnout, the mask crashes.
- The Script Failure: Do you find yourself unable to find the “correct” social response, resulting in a flat, unblinking silence?
- The Processing Lag: Is there a 3-5 second delay between hearing a sentence and understanding its social implication?
- The Irritability Spike: Does the sound of another human’s voice feel like a physical assault on your nervous system?
When the mask falls, the raw signal of your autism is exposed. This is often when the world starts telling you that you’ve “changed.” You haven’t changed; your armor has just been melted down for parts.
4. The Autonomy Audit
Burnout is often a result of external systems overriding your internal autonomy.
- The Demand Overload: Does every request—no matter how small—feel like an act of aggression?
- The System Resentment: Do you feel a profound, silent rage toward the social structures (work, school, family) that require you to override your own safety protocols?
- The Withdrawal Instinct: Is your primary goal in every waking moment to reach a state of absolute isolation?
The Severity Index
Count your “Yes” responses:
- 1-4: The Warning Threshold. Your system is under-resourced. You are operating in a state of chronic friction.
- 5-8: The Critical Zone. You are in active burnout. Systemic failure is imminent. Shutdowns are likely becoming frequent.
- 9-12: The Event Horizon. Total system failure. You are no longer “functioning” in the traditional sense. You need an immediate, hard-reset isolation protocol.
Strategic Reframe: It’s Not You, It’s the Architecture
Leviticus: If your test results are in the red, do not apologize to the system that broke you. A high-resolution monitor cannot be blamed for glitching when plugged into a low-voltage, unstable power grid.
The goal is not to “fix” yourself so you can return to the grid. The goal is to redesign your environment so it matches your hardware requirements.
In the next guide, we will discuss the Signs of the Machine Failure and how to begin the tactical withdrawal.
Internal Metrics:
- Energy Debt: Cumulative. Needs weeks, not days, of zero-noise rest.
- Recovery Velocity: Dependent on the level of autonomy granted during the isolation phase.
- Signal Quality: Will return once the sensory buffers are cleared.