Young students sitting on stairs writing in notebooks

Inertia

Inertia is a word to describe feeling stuck or like it is hard to start something that you want to do.¹

It can be a frustrating and annoying feeling, as you might really want to start the task, but you just can’t.

When does inertia happen?

Inertia can happen when trying to start an activity. Inertia may make it difficult to plan ahead and begin the steps of an activity.

Some autistic people also experience inertia when stopping or changing activities.² For example, you might experience inertia when you need to switch from math to science, or from recess to reading time, at school.

From the outside, inertia might look like burnout (because you might be very still), but inertia feels different on the inside.

Instead of feeling exhausted or drained like with burnout, inertia has more of a “nervous energy”, or a tense or frustrated feeling.

When experiencing inertia, you might feel...

Frustrated
Annoyed

Nervous
Tense

Watch a video explaining "Autistic Inertia"...

Download and create your own "Inertia" plan

We hope that working through this handout will help you tell important adults in your life about your experiences and create a plan. This plan can be put into action at school, home or anywhere else that you might find helpful.

Download the handout

References

1. Phung, J., Penner, M., Pirlot, C., & Welch, C. (2021). What I Wish You Knew: Insights on Burnout, Inertia, Meltdown, and Shutdown From Autistic Youth. Frontiers in Psychology, 21. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.741421

2. Buckle, K. L., Leadbitter, K., Poliakoff, E., & Gowen, E. (2021). “No way out except from external intervention”: First-hand accounts of autistic inertia. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631596