Autistic shutdown: five minutes at VivaTech, fourteen hours to recover
An autistic shutdown can occur when an accumulation of sensory, cognitive and social stimuli exceeds a person’s processing capacity. The brain then slows down abruptly: speaking becomes difficult, even the simplest decisions become impossible, and the body may keep moving on autopilot. In June 2026, VivaTech was held in Paris—a kind of French mini-CES. I had been looking forward to it, hoping to hand out résumés and potentially land a job. I had not counted on a massive shutdown beginning before I even entered the exhibition.