This blog post was written on 22/3/2020

I probably haven’t written in as much depth yet as I’d like to surrounding Charlie’s habitual processes. He is a home bird, he loves being at home, and he loves being in as little clothes as possible. If we could always be at home, we would be and we would rarely venture outside if I’m honest. Home is where we’re happiest.

We are now a whole month into the corona virus outbreak and the 2nd week of the panic buying stage, first weekend of lockdown (if you’re reading this retrospectively) . It’s probably not as frightening or stressful for us as other families because being at home, self isolating is a process we have been used to for 2+ years now. The world is a scary place for an autistic child with sensory processing and to keep ourselves calm and self regulated we often just stay home rather than deal with different environments or new experiences.

And then there’s school. IF YOU HAVE AN EHCP YOU ARE CLASSED AS A VULNERABLE CHILD AND THERE IS A SCHOOL SPACE FOR YOU. It is shocking how many parents I have spoken to, that didn’t know this and thought that they couldn’t have the school place. For a while now, Charlie has struggled at the PRU, spending a great deal of time out of the classroom and in the corridor, and even outside, being aggressive when challenged and physically assaulting staff when he has been in “fight or flight” mode. Fight or flight is a reaction when needs aren’t being met and a child is in a vulnerable position and experiencing sensory overload.

They either fight, or be aggressive, as they can not control or manage their emotions. This is Charlie as he really struggles with emotions. And flight, which is where they run off. I have had many many years of Charlie’s flight modes, where he consistently ran off and hid when in sensory overload.

So, school in particular has been quite stressful as he has been in these positions a lot more than normal. And it is now a daily occurrence that we have these issues. When it was offered for Charlie to continue going to school, I did say no. Not only for the issues at school, but because his older siblings are also off, and it would be increasingly difficult to convince Charlie to go when he feels that it would be a punishment in comparison to his siblings staying home with me. Oh and we need to throw separation anxiety in there aswell! Poor kid, as if life wasn’t hard enough.

So right now, we can’t complain, we’re actually doing OK. We have food, and I suppose we just have to be inventive if we run out and make some sort of crazy concoction just to be fed. Doing the weekly food shop is tending to be a little more difficult, but not impossible, self isolation is not scary in the slightest. I must point out though, we are choosing to self isolate, and socially distance ourselves from people. We’re not sick, we have no symptoms but we are doing our bit and self isolating for the good of the community and limiting the risk of the spread by being socially responsible.

But it’s hard work for a lot of other people and I won’t take that away from them. I’m sure there’s more blogs to come.

Georgina x