Autistic burnout? Or something else?

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Hi, sorry this is long!

I started off the second semester of my sophomore year in college really motivated and determined to get good grades, but a week ago I lost all motivation to study and I have no attention span.

Most distressing is that I literally haven't been able understand or learn anything. Whatever I read or hear, it's just empty words and numbers and I can't put any meaning to them. It's like every word is scattered and floating around in space and I can't put them in order so that I can understand them. It might as well be a foreign language. My mind feels blank. I can't even go to my professors office hours because to get help you need to know what you need help with and even if they were to explain the concepts to me, I probably wouldn't be able to understand anything they say. Not only do I feel stupid, but my grades are at stake.

I tried vyvanse for one day (prescribed for its intended purpose) but stopped because it made me feel empty inside and then kept me up all night stressing about homework (unusual for me). This was around the time I started noticing my problem. Could it just be a coincidence? I've also been taking an anxiety medication. Could this be a side effect?

Could this be burnout? I read up on it and a lot of it sounds similar, but aside from my normal social difficulties, I haven't had any extra problems with acting "normal". I have put an unusual amount of pressure on myself lately.

I don't know what to do. I've considered packing my things and going home because if this keeps up I'll just be wasting time and money, but going home would destroy me because college is the only place I actually have friends. However, if I'm going to fail my classes, I can't stay here.

Have any of you had this problem before, particularly with the trouble thinking? How did you handle it? Please help me, I don't know what to do and I'm freaking out.

That sounds rough. While it's not unheard of for students to lack motivation, not being able to absorb or understand anything sounds quite a bit more dire. Does your college have some kind of disability support office? Even if you don't have an official diagnosis of autism, your anxiety might make you eligible for assistance. In this case, for example, you might need extensions for your assignments while you sort yourself out. It's really important that you make contact with them as soon as possible and let them know you're having difficulties. If they work anything like they do at my university, they can give you advice on what to do and, if you are eligible, negotiate deadlines with your professors on your behalf if you don't feel up to doing that yourself. You will probably need to see your doctor to get documentation before they can do anything official, and it wouldn't hurt to discuss your symptoms and feelings with him or her too.

Do they record the lectures? It could help to listen to them again in your own time. Even when I am motivated I struggle to focus on talking heads. Popping in the earbuds and listening to lectures a bit at a time really helped.

Good luck.

Hi, I am a parent and wife of lovely people with ASD - so I am speaking as a loving NT.
Please go and talk to a College support person; your professor or a College counsellor or a GP. You don't need to know what the solution is before you start the conversation.
Trying to figure out by yourself how you could solve your perception problems isn't very helpful because just right now you are not 'thinking' at your best level.
I expect you will be amazed by how just finding an ally to help you will start a good process toward reducing your anxiety and improving your coping.
You may need to seek help from more than one person, you may come across someone unhelpful, but the job for you right now is to go and find some support. Staying in College is an excellent goal and your best way of achieving that is to ask for help now.
Wishing you all the very best,
Louise