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How to explain a pandemic to persons on the autism spectrum. We have a suspected case of COVID19 in our family. We are under strict quarantine for 14 days or until test comes back hopefully negative in 5 days. We also have a very important member of our family who is an adult on the autism spectrum. I Googled “how to inform a person on the autism spectrum about a pandemic and public health responsibility”. There is nothing to be found – likely because our country has not experienced a pandemic of this magnitude in several lifetimes (since H1N1/Spanish flu in 1918). In any regard, I decided to disseminate my observations and recommendations based on first haNd experience.
Informing someone with autism about a pandemic and sharing that a family member is affected, is not much different thaN telling any neurotypical person. The key is to stay calm, not exaggerate, keep to the facts, and use simple language. When we told our son on the spectrum in this manner, he first challenged our reasoning for him having to stay inside house for two weeks. He asked, “who made up this rule”? When we said that the doctor told us this rule, he was immediately accepting. He then wanted to know who else had to be in quarantine and why people were still driving and walking around outside. This was a little harder – we shared that one of us could be very sick and because of that – our family is one of the few that must quarantine. Then the big question came, “wait, if I have to stay in house all the time with someone who is sick, can’t I get sick too”? We are still trying to asway his fears here…. We shared more facts calmly such as: you will not use same bathroom, you will wash your hands at least 24 times a day, you need to stay 6 feet away from sick family member, you will only eat your food, we will not share any food or leftovers. One of the strengths of our son, as with many on the spectrum is that he is very regimented. He is following these rules emphatically. He is reminding us of what we are doing right and wrong like a broken record. That said, these attributes have proven to be an asset in our personal family’s experience with possible COVID19 case in our home. Test comes back in 5 days, fingers crossed!