Today, on World Autism Day, Think About How the Pandemic Affects People on the Spectrum

We are all struggling with sheltering in pace, social distancing, and having all of our connections be virtual ones. Today, on World Autism Day, I am thinking about my sixteen-year-old twin granddaughters who are on the spectrum and having a harder time adjusting to the new normal than most of us. While every person on the spectrum is unique, the one common thread is the need for consistency and predictability. And life these days is anything but that.

One of my granddaughters lives in a residential school that is a three-hour drive from where her family and grandparents live. No one can visit her because the facility is on lockdown. We try to Skype her several times a week, but it is painful not knowing what she understands about this and how she may feel abandoned for reasons that are beyond her grasp. School has resumed in a very limited capacity this week, but we have no idea what she has been doing to fill her days. She is non-verbal and her iPad broke yet again. So, whatever means she had to express her feelings is gone until the new one her parents purchased at Target, and set up with TouchChat, arrives via mail. Just going to Target and then the post office felt risky, but how could they leave her miles from home with no means of communication or games with which to entertain herself? What…