Healing Autistic Burnout: A Neuroaffirming Guide — Paperback

Burnout isn't a failure. It's a sign that something needs to change. Written by autistic psychotherapist Sharon Kaye O'Connor for autistic readers, Healing Autistic Burnout is a compassionate, neuroaffirming guide that approaches burnout not as a personal shortcoming but as a natural response to a world that wasn't made with autistic needs in mind. Through mindfulness and self-reflective exercises, the book explores emotional overwhelm, sensory overstimulation, mental exhaustion, masking, energy preservation, boundary-setting, and the practice of radical self-acceptance — all through a lens that respects autistic experience rather than framing autism as something to fix.

We carry this at EOWD for autistic adults, caregivers, families, educators, and neurodivergent households where self-understanding and acceptance-centered learning are part of how care and community get cultivated. Books written by autistic authors, for autistic readers, are a different kind of resource — they don't translate the experience from the outside in. Sharon O'Connor writes from inside that experience, as a clinician and as an autistic person herself, and that matters. Whether this book is for your own shelf, for a family member navigating burnout, or for an educator or caregiver who wants to understand more deeply, it belongs in the conversation.

This book supports neuroaffirming education, self-understanding, rest awareness, personal advocacy, authentic identity, and informed caregiver support. It does not cure burnout, treat autism, restore energy, replace therapy or professional mental health support, provide medical advice, prevent mental health struggles, or guarantee recovery. Individual experiences of autistic burnout vary widely. This book is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

One step at a time, on your own terms — explore the guide that meets you where you are today.

Product Specs

• Author: Sharon Kaye O'Connor, LCSW
• Foreword by: William Stillman
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 168
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
• ISBN: 978-1-648486-71-5
• Dimensions: 22.7×15.5 cm (8.95×6.1 in)
• Publication Date: February 1, 2026
• Subject: Autistic burnout, neuroaffirming, self-advocacy, masking, sensory overwhelm, authentic identity, autistic adults
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States

• Brand: O'Connor, Sharon Kaye
• Model/SKU: 9781648486715
• ISBN: 978-1-648486-71-5
• Vendor/Supplier: Books by splitShops (via Shopify Collective)