How Sean Realised His Burnout Was Autistic, Not Failure
In this episode, Angela speaks with Sean Hawthorne, a late-identifying Autistic adult, about the shutdowns, sensory overwhelm, and catastrophic burnout long mistaken for personal failure.
In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon sits down with Sean Hawthorne, a late-identifying Autistic adult who is still in the very middle of discovery — not the end of the journey.
Sean spent decades performing a socially acceptable version of himself: the reliable friend, the focused finance professional, the guy who shaped his interests to fit in and kept his sensory overwhelm hidden. But in 2021, a catastrophic burnout forced him to confront a truth he could no longer outrun.
Together, Angela and Sean explore Autistic burnout, somatic reconnection, cultural and religious messaging, unmasking, identity, self-diagnosis, and the relief of realising you were never broken — you were misunderstood.
🎧 Listen to this episode:
🪑 Attendees
Chair: Dr Angela Kingdon — Author, community-builder, and Autistic advocate
Guest: Sean Hawthorne — Self-diagnosed Autistic adult navigating late discovery
You: The Listener!
🗒️ Meeting Agenda
Opening remarks from the Chair
Member introduction: Sean’s early clues
Discussion: Burnout, masking, religion, culture & re-learning the body
Key learnings
Club announcements
🧾 Minutes from the Meeting
1️⃣ Opening Remarks
Angela introduces Sean as someone still in process — mid-discovery, mid-unmasking, mid-clarity — reflecting the reality that Autistic identification can take years, even a decade, to understand fully.
2️⃣ Member Introduction: Sean’s Story
Sean’s earliest clues were sensory processing difficulties so intense that he sometimes froze, unable to respond to teachers who insisted he “just answer.” He excelled academically only when placed in a smaller, more patient classroom — a sign of undiscovered neurodivergence that went unnoticed.
3️⃣ Discussion Highlights
Sensory overwhelm: Freezing in classrooms, noise sensitivity, overstimulation.
Masking: Clubs, alcohol, social rules, performing “acceptable” masculinity.
Cultural & religious pressure: Caribbean/Christian frameworks that framed distress as spiritual or disciplinary issues.
Burnout: Losing mobility, shutting down, thinking it was “a lack of discipline.”
Somatic reconnection: Learning interoception, feeling his body’s signals for the first time.
Self-diagnosis: Valid, grounded, and life-saving.
Intersectionality: Autistic burnout in the context of Blackness, surveillance, and systemic injustice.
4️⃣ Key Learnings
Being dismissed doesn’t mean you were wrong — it means you were unseen.
Masking becomes a personality, not a strategy.
Burnout often looks like failure until you have the right language.
Self-identification can save lives long before formal diagnosis is accessible.
Reconnecting with the body is disorienting — but also a homecoming.
Autistic adults aren’t fragile; we’re deprived of support.
📣 Club Announcements
🎧 The Late Diagnosis Club is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.
💬 Join our online meetups and community at latediagnosis.club.
📌 Check the LDC Notice Board for Member Contributions
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💌 Want To Be Our Next Guest?
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We’re always looking for late-diagnosed or self-identified neurodivergent adults who are ready to share their story on The Late Diagnosis Club.
Tell us a little about yourself and your diagnosis journey here:
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A huge thank-you to our founding supporters of Autistic Culture Plus, who believed in this network before it even launched.
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🎙️ Executive Producers
Amy Burns, Anamaria B Call, Andrew Banner, Anna Goodson, Ashley Apelzin, Audrea Volker, Ben Coulson, Brian Churcek, Cappy Hamper, Carley Biblin, Charlene Deva, Chloe Cross, Clay Duhigg, Clayton Oliver, Danny Dunn, Daria Brown, David Garrido, Emily Burgess, Eric Crane, Erik Stenerud, Fiona Baker, Grace Norman, Helen Shaddock, Jaimie Collins, Jason Killian, Jen Unruh, Jennifer Carpenter, Julia Tretter, Kathie Watson-Gray, Kenneth Knowles, Kira Cotter, Kristine Lang, Kyle Raney, Llew P Williams, Laura Alvarado, Laura De Vito, Laura Provonsha, Lily George, Nelly Darmi, Nigel Rogers, Rachel Miller, Tim Scott, Tyler Kunz, Victoria Steed, Yanina Wood.
🎧 Producers
AJ Knight, Bobby Simon, Da Kovac, Eleanor Collins, Emily Griffiths, Hannah Hughes, Jennifer Kemp, Jonas Fløde, Kate F, Katie N Benitez, Kendra Murphy, Lisa Dennys, Logan Wall, Louise Lomas, Melissa Nance, Nicola Owen, Rebecka Johansson, Sam Morris, Sarah Hannah Morris.