With September’s arrival and schools (attempting) to start new terms, it feels like we are settling in to another, possibly more relaxed phase of coping with the pandemic.
Not in this house.
We are taking steps to manage an Aspie Covid meltdown which, frankly, I’m surprised has taken this long.
At the beginning of lockdown, Beloved Aspie went from ‘vulnerable adult’ to ‘essential worker’ in three days flat. He works at a cycle shop. And for the most, this was a good thing, maintaining some sort of order to his week and social contact where all else had been erased.
He continued to ‘encounter’ the reality of Covid every day.
Eventually his support worker was able to meet with him and take him out – meeting Covid rules in other places.
And the learning centre he attends re-opened – with another set of rules.
At this time, I unhelpfully broke my leg, got locked down in lockdown and lost touch with the outside world and its ever-changing guidelines. As the hubs works fulltime and now had extra duties as I couldn’t drive, Beloved Aspie also took a generous and compassionate caring role for me.
I am back on my feet, albeit a little painfully, and I’m seeing how the world looks again. I seem to have forgotten how to function! What does it mean to go to a shop? Have tea in a cafĂ©? Wander around town?
Well, I was so busy working out the rules, the one-way systems, and the distancing that I forgot what I was actually looking for! And I am supposedly an intelligent, socially aware human being…
So is it any wonder that an Asperger’s brain is struggling? Aspies like order and constancy. They are inclined to follow set rules rather than make their own. This inconstant, unstable time is especially confusing for them.
I watched a guy in a teashop give Beloved Aspie a slanty eye the other day because he was stressed that the guy was in his way without a mask. I was ready to pounce.
Please, people, be kind, find your compassion and don’t assume. You have no idea how hard some people are working to function right now. Stay alert…for the needs of others.
