Break from The Old Routine.

I'd posted t'other week about how the routines put in place for us autie-types over lockdown can sometimes have a detrimental effect in the long run as they're not actually our routines, mostly folk have assumed that it's what we need to cope and this can cause lots of major upset along the way.

You can read that here by the way.

But what do I mean by this I hear you ask.

Well hear you type obviously but you get the gist.

Well just talk to your friends (virtually obviously) and you'll see the difference between how (NT) folk cope and how autistic folk are 'meant' to cope.

NT people:  

"I'm in lockdown and a wee bit worried.....bottle of wine and loads of snacks for me every night! Sod it I'm staying in my PJs today! Shave my legs? Screw that!" 

And so on....

Autistic folk:  

"This is all mental.....I can't do the things I need to do and it's driving me mad.....I'm going to stay in bed till it's all over cos I don't see the point in getting up....well actually I could get up and re-organise my DVD collection....or I could give myself a comforting routine of only eating my favourite food everyday till it's over....pants? I don't need pants cos no-one will see me!"

NT people replyig to autistics:

"WHAT?!!? Yes I know we're in lockdown and everything has changed! I know nothing makes sense but you can't just do what you need to do to cope! You MUST continue as if nothing has happened and carry on having routines for your own benefit! Here's a timetable I've put together for you....No you can't stay in your PJs as that's not what you do....Stay in bed? NO get up now or you'll forget how to do it when you go back to school/college/work...."


And then we all have one massive meltdown because everything we've been persuaded  to do makes fuck all sense and our brains melt.

This is an absolute nightmare for you tho' (much more than it normally is) partly because of the heightened stress of lockdown but mainly because you're really hungover and sensitive to noise because you had two bottles of wine last night.

Because, you know, lockdown.

"I've just had a few ales!" - Acceptable NT way of dealing with lockdown.

You want to re-arrange these is historical order to take your mind of the global pandemic? FREAK!