Do aspies have melt downs or is that an autism thing?

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Yes I've had a couple of 'meltdowns' usually caused by me experiencing emotion/s I can't fully understand, typically caused by someone doing or saying something that betrays one of my internal rules. One time my uncle said something lukewarm about my dad (who had passed away) and I flipped and said things to him and his family that I haven't been able to live down to this day. I do remember remarking among many other things that my dad could eat him (my uncle) for breakfast. My uncle stormed out the house in anger and spent the next few years exacting revenge, including by saying something hurtful/untrue about my dad every chance he had. Freaking coward. I regretted the comments immediately after this meltdown incident but it pretty much ruined things between us. Because of his revenge I see him as more in the wrong than me -- i.e. I could more easily forgive a person who flips out and says hurtful things out of anger and rage, than a person who harbors a grudge and consciously seeks revenge over a prolonged period. Even courts of Law pass more severe sentences for premeditated crimes, and are more lenient for crimes of passion. Anyway I'm not the judge -- God is -- and I regret what happened.

I think all people on the spectrum CAN get meltdowns, but not all do (or not all do as frequently as others do). I have them frequently, and no, they are not like speaking loud at the cashier because she couldn't hear you (I would simply call that....frustration, maybe?) A meltdown is completely uncontrollable. You would know if you have them. For me, they could last for hours (I had about a 12 hour one today with only a scattered hour here and there as a break followed by a mental shutdown that is only partially lifted. This meltdown followed me at school, on the bus--I could not stop it). When I was a kid, my parents could punish me, threaten me, try to bribe me out of it, try to talk me out of it....anything at all--NOTHING stops a meltdown. I cannot even stop them once they start. They stop when I am so completely exhausted that I cannot meltdown anymore--and I either go into shutdown, or I just come out of the meltdown (but still exhausted). I've gotten snarky on occasion to people I've misunderstood or to who I thought were being mean to me (not often, and usually only when I am in a miserable mood anyway). This is not a meltdown. This is me being snarky and probably kind of rude even though I don't notice it at the time.

my nephew is diagnosed as asperger's. he has no meltdowns or stereotypical movements. i used to practice medicine and was a good diagnostician. i think i'm a good judge if i fit the DSM criteria for asperger's, which i do. i've been seeing a psychiatrist for years, who says i have no personality disorders, even back in the day when psychiatrists spent an hour a week with me. seems to me you are looking for an absolute, which in psychiatry is difficult. people get their diagnoses changed over time. and yes, it is complicated, but my case is not. i've also taken the MMPI twice and am not paranoid. if you fit the DSM for asperger's (iautistic.com/test_AS.php), you probably have asperger's.

must leave for work. good luck with your search.

I am diagnosed Asperger's and have about one meltdown a week on average. Mostly over changes in my routine. I also have some stereotypic movements.
Maybe the OP should make a poll.

yup, i would make the poll, To those with asperger's, how often do you have meltdowns?

often
sometimes
rarely
never

i would discount the results unless a fairly high number of folks, say 200, answered, to satisfy yourself that you're getting a varied statistical sample.

I the poll part new, or did I just miss it entirely? Honestly though, unless there is some scientific study done, how can anyone properly answer the poll question. Anyone who tries (unless there is so study out there that I don't know of) is going merely by personal opinion or speculation; therefore, I cannot respond to the poll since I really have noooo clue. I would GUESS at least 50% but that is simply a guess based on absolutely no scientific data.

Meltdowns are not restricted to people in the autism community. NT's can have them as well.

If my youngest sister is here for the week i get a meltdown atleast 4 times a week, then i get violent because of her and everything's my fault..
LOL

I'm not sure how to answer. When I was a little kid I had meltdowns daily. I was so sensitive and so easily upset about everything. Then I turned 7 and it's gone. No more meltdowns. I think I was old enough and mature enough to handle lots of coping techniques, also to articulate my thoughts. To this day I'm a cool headed person who analyze every situation instead of throwing tantrums.

My sons (both high functioning) have meltdown occasionally, like less than once a month. They're 10 and 8. I expect the frequency to go down as they mature.