I know I’m not writing nearly as often as I normally do and the truth is, depression is really kicking my ass. I’m still functional but definitely struggling. As of today, we’ve been on lockdown for 98 straight days. As you can probably imagine, it’s running a bit long in the tooth at this point. Unfortunately, there simply isn’t any other options. With Gavin being immunocompromised, there literally isn’t another way to keep him safe.
We’re in this for the long haul and that’s likely to be awhile.
I’ve been hearing from readers both here and on social media, that their husband, wife, daughter, son or other loved one is immunocompromised as well and they’re in the exact same boat.
While my heart goes out to all the other families trying to keep immunocompromised or otherwise high risk loved ones safe, I’m so grateful for the gentle reminder that I’m not alone. Sometimes, I feel like the crazy one because everyone around me is acting like nothing happened or is currently still happening, and here I am locking my family down for 98 days so far.
So many people are ignoring the fact that we’re waist deep in a deadly pandemic. As I’m writing this, a notification just popped up saying that as of June 10, 2020, the US has exceeded 2,000,000 COVID-19 infections and suffered 114,580 deaths as a new wave approaches. I don’t understand how anyone can be so flippant in the wake of all this.
This is not going to end unless we all take this seriously. I mean, how hard is it to wear a mask? My sensory sensitive autistic kids wear a mask on the rare occasion we go to a park, even though we stay far away from everyone. We don’t wear masks for our own benefit, we wear them for yours. I can’t explain how hard it can be for my kids to wear a mask, and I can’t say how disappointed I am to see so many people who don’t care enough to return the favor.
98 days of adult free isolation, with my 3 autistic kids, is testing me in ways I hadn’t imagined being possible. My kids are absolutely amazing and I love them more than anything in the world. I’m so used to the daily challenges that it’s completely normal to me. What’s really challenging is the whole no adult contact thing. It’s all cartoons, video games and Pokémon up in here. All my oldest incessantly talks about is his Pokémon game and while I’ve never personally been a fan of Pokémon, it’s become nails on a chalkboard to me lately. Shamefully, I find myself rooting for team Rocket and hoping that when they inevitably blast off again, they take the entire fucking Pokémon world with them.
You’re absolutely able to do what you feel is right for your children and family. However, I find it crazy that nobody is fighting for the rights of us who don’t feel that our children with autism should be forced to comply. I refuse to do this to my 2 sons, and I feel that’s ok, with their diagnosed disability. I saw on another article in this that they said all it takes is mask sensitizing and therapy. What?!! Like that’s ALL it takes. I’m not going to ever subject my kids to that. I have other priorities for them in therapy. Like developing independent social skills that will enable them to be successful in their life. This is not something I should have to be forced to do TO them. Again- you are doing what you feel is right for your family, I’m just expressing my disappointment that the rights of anyone with autism are being ignored and taken away, and that it is quietly being allowed.
My wife, my eldest son with autism and myself went to the park for the first time to get out of the house and get some exercise. I was shocked to see with all the people in the park(adults and young children) no one was wearing masks except only two other people in the entire park. Yesterday we went to a discount grocery store to shop. Most of the shoppers wore masks but one man, not wearing a mask, who I don’t know from Adam, came up to me and tried to convince me that I no longer needed to wear a mask. He made up a story saying our state government in Pa. had just said today that masks were not needed. He wasn’t a nasty or obnoxious guy but I was not interested in getting into a debate with a stranger regarding wearing masks. I told him that it was my choice to protect myself and my family and we all chose to wear masks and turned and walked away from him. I am totally astounded how brain dead the “non maskers” are and cannot understand that it’s not just them and they are a danger to other people if they are positive infected but don’t know it. I don’t know what has happened to people today. I appears that good common sense is now becoming a rare commodity and the need to be able to go to the beach, sporting events or any group activity or have fun is more important than saving lives. This bothers me to no end, since my autistic son has various medical issues as well.
Im an autistic adult and I barely can wear masks. It physically hurts and after about 5 mins I can barely stand it anymore so I just don’t go nowhere and try to stay away from crowds but I stayed away from ppl even if there wasn’t covid 19 not a ppl person. So covid hasn’t changed my life that much. I love the social distancing so ppl stay away from me and arnt that close anymore. My 4 year old is autistic and won’t keep a mask on. Me and him have asthma. My bf has asthma and still constantly talks to ppl and it drives me crazy. At least now he’s kinda doing it from a distance. He’s always been a social butterfly and it’s drove me nuts even before covid lol
You know what Ami, I totally admire your honesty here. While I’m not autistic myself, I know what my kids go through when wearing a mask and if we go to the park, we all wear a mask. I’m talki g about the people how just don’t care and refuse to wear one because they just don’t want to. You are not in that category. I get it and want to be clear that I wasn’t referring to people in your situation. It’s really nice to meet you. My best to you and your family. ☺ ♥