Corona Cuts.
Well it's been an exciting week in the UK (and the world) hasn't it?
Surprisingly our house of Autism appears to be coping pretty well all things considered - the girls are doing OK here, Embeth had a wee wobble yesterday when she realized it was worldwide and that she wont be seeing her friends till who knows when, Amelia is just being a teenager and stropping around shouting (mainly due to frustration at the lack of routine and to be fair I'd do the same if I could get away with it) whilst young Master Cassidy on t'other hand has chocolate and is in his PJ's 24/7 so is happier than a pig in shit.
Between all the food scavenging and the like we have tons of school work to keep the podlings occupied till they go back so we're spending this week
making sure they have a workable schedule in place and getting it planned out on big calendars.
When they're done I can start on mine if I can last that long.
In the meantime we've been doing Coronavirus diaries and tying them into writing art etc. For example I took Cassidy out for a walk along the canal then got him to write about it as well as counting the bikes, joggers, dogs etc - making a list of all we saw then drawing it.
Which if I'm honest is much less stressful than just doing the default setting of grabbing your head and saying "I can't teach my kids!".
I mean you don't need technology (our router is dying on its arse and our new one doesn't activate till - ulp - Thursday) or hundreds of essential equipment, you just need patience and an understanding that - as autistic folk - we need clear, concise routines.
As an adult I'm probably finding this harder than the kids - no schedule, no routine, my space invaded 24/7 and probably no work till next year now (the way the budgets work they'll probably not even think of getting art installation/commissions done til the April budgets) - having to hound folk out of Morrison's autism friendly hour didn't help either.
It's almost like everything we've ever been told that we need to do to 'fit in' - don't stim, be social, be more empathetic, don't obsess over things and the like are actually things that your common or garden NT person just does for show, seeing as soon as there's a chance you might not be able to buy more than 2 toilet rolls you all go apeshit and trash the shops then refuse to stay in shouting that you survived the blitz (which you didn't) so you'll survive this.
And then there are news reports to 'remember the vulnerable and elderly' - it's like the whole person first/condition first thing writ large, I mean come on, if you need to be reminded that their are vulnerable folk in society that need looking after then frankly you need to rethink your life.
If nothing else good comes from this then the fact that finally it's not us who need to change will be enough for me.
Rant over.
And we have to deal with this as well as the fact that we've had our entire routine/schedule taken away and the info we are getting is so vague as to not allow us to put anything in place.
Seriously it's like wading thru treacle and I for one am bloody knackered!
The thing that's keeping me going at the moment tho' (and it may seem really silly to you) is the fact that once a day I make a point of posting a review of a post-apocalyptic/science gone mad film on my movie blog.
I don't care if no-one reads it (they never do) but the fact that I know that once a day around the same time I have something personal to do that's just for me helps more than anything else.
So remember if your autie kids (and adult friends) are stimming or sleeping more don't panic - it may be just their way of putting a little bit of order in place.
Thanks for listening.
Surprisingly our house of Autism appears to be coping pretty well all things considered - the girls are doing OK here, Embeth had a wee wobble yesterday when she realized it was worldwide and that she wont be seeing her friends till who knows when, Amelia is just being a teenager and stropping around shouting (mainly due to frustration at the lack of routine and to be fair I'd do the same if I could get away with it) whilst young Master Cassidy on t'other hand has chocolate and is in his PJ's 24/7 so is happier than a pig in shit.
Between all the food scavenging and the like we have tons of school work to keep the podlings occupied till they go back so we're spending this week
making sure they have a workable schedule in place and getting it planned out on big calendars.
When they're done I can start on mine if I can last that long.
 |
| Corona advice: wash your hands more often and more importantly rethink your jacket choices. No, seriously - don't wear it again, burn it. |
In the meantime we've been doing Coronavirus diaries and tying them into writing art etc. For example I took Cassidy out for a walk along the canal then got him to write about it as well as counting the bikes, joggers, dogs etc - making a list of all we saw then drawing it.
Which if I'm honest is much less stressful than just doing the default setting of grabbing your head and saying "I can't teach my kids!".
I mean you don't need technology (our router is dying on its arse and our new one doesn't activate till - ulp - Thursday) or hundreds of essential equipment, you just need patience and an understanding that - as autistic folk - we need clear, concise routines.
As an adult I'm probably finding this harder than the kids - no schedule, no routine, my space invaded 24/7 and probably no work till next year now (the way the budgets work they'll probably not even think of getting art installation/commissions done til the April budgets) - having to hound folk out of Morrison's autism friendly hour didn't help either.
It's almost like everything we've ever been told that we need to do to 'fit in' - don't stim, be social, be more empathetic, don't obsess over things and the like are actually things that your common or garden NT person just does for show, seeing as soon as there's a chance you might not be able to buy more than 2 toilet rolls you all go apeshit and trash the shops then refuse to stay in shouting that you survived the blitz (which you didn't) so you'll survive this.
And then there are news reports to 'remember the vulnerable and elderly' - it's like the whole person first/condition first thing writ large, I mean come on, if you need to be reminded that their are vulnerable folk in society that need looking after then frankly you need to rethink your life.
If nothing else good comes from this then the fact that finally it's not us who need to change will be enough for me.
Rant over.
And we have to deal with this as well as the fact that we've had our entire routine/schedule taken away and the info we are getting is so vague as to not allow us to put anything in place.
Seriously it's like wading thru treacle and I for one am bloody knackered!
 |
| This'll be us this time next week. |
The thing that's keeping me going at the moment tho' (and it may seem really silly to you) is the fact that once a day I make a point of posting a review of a post-apocalyptic/science gone mad film on my movie blog.
I don't care if no-one reads it (they never do) but the fact that I know that once a day around the same time I have something personal to do that's just for me helps more than anything else.
So remember if your autie kids (and adult friends) are stimming or sleeping more don't panic - it may be just their way of putting a little bit of order in place.
Thanks for listening.
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