Page 6 - Mainstreamer Volume 1 Issue 2 Feb 2023

NEEDN’T FRET
Challenges of Living, Adapting, and Coping with an Autistic Child

during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Ruth Selvaranee
Arunasalam

he 2020 World Autism Day was celebrated Another child stuffed paper and metal objects
on April 2nd. This year was a turning point into his mouth. His parents tried to remove
Tin the lives of autistic persons and their them only to find him screaming incessantly and
families. Parents of autistic children had no access covering his ears. In this case, the parents were
to therapy and support. Their children were between the ages of 35-40 and owned a business.
removed from their normal routines and kept at They tried therapies and ideas but were eventually
home. This posed several challenges for both the disappointed by the system, which provides no
children and their parents. Consider the following place for the child in a learning environment. Since
situations:arios at home: then, their child has been kept at home.

It was reported that incidents of violence
happened when a neurotypical person had to deal
with an autistic sibling who constantly annoyed “
him with his “echolalic” sounds, which disrupted In another family, an autistic
the former’s work-at-home routine. Another teenager was mistaken to be rude.
incident occurred when a child kept waking up in Attempts by the father to punish
the early morning hours, disturbing the father’s
sleeping routine and forcing him to resort to the child resulted in a bigger mess
physical punishment. After being punished, they since the boy was not only impolite,
child now crouched in a corner, terrified, whenever but also used profanity towards the
the father appeared. Both parents in this case father.”
were between the ages of 36-40, and they were in
denial for a long time before admitting; the father
was an IT professional, and his wife gave up her Another case happened when a child’s favorite
high-paying job to care for their child. television show was switched by the father to a
news program, resulting in the child running and
In another case, an increase in phone usage screaming. When the father refused to relent,
that was difficult to control resulted in a child the child threw himself to the ground and started
screaming that sometimes lasted an hour. The pounding his head on the floor. The father was the
parents were both engineers between the ages of sole caretaker for the child. The mother refused to
32-40. They relied on therapists the entire time. be involved, instead focusing on her non-autistic
Another case was an escalation of sibling rivalry. child. There was also an incident in which a child
It happened when toys belonging to the other cried for no apparent reason and was found to
sibling were scattered around and damaged. This have experienced epilepsy attacks more often than
particular child had pursued therapy, but both usual. Another incident occurred where a child
parents, who are teachers, were at a loss. Another who used to walk normally suddenly refused to
child struck himself for no apparent reason until touch or walk on the carpet rug.
he bled. Everything the mother tried to stop it was
futile since it only aggravated the situation. A mother struggled to stop her child from biting
his finger, only to find her child making a mess

5 5 Vol. 01, Issue 2 | February 2023