Autistic and living through a pandemic, my take

 Hey all!

So if you don't already know, I am autistic. I also have ADD and OCD and depression and anxiety. I just want to briefly cover what the last year was like for me as an autistic person. Every autistic person is different so my experience with the COVID 19 pandemic might not be the same as another autistic person's take.

I was laid off for almost 3 months. I covered in my last post that I didn't think at first that this would be a year + endeavor. Obviously I never denied COVID I just never lived through such a pervasive and scary world issue like this before.

I have OCD so I was washing my hands like crazy and using hand sanitizer like crazy too. I didn't want to get sick and didn't want to get my family or anyone else sick too. I have been 100% pro mask the whole year. I will continue to wear masks when working because it decreases my chances of a cold or a flu.

Being laid off meant I had a lot of freedom inside my own home but not a lot of freedom to leave my home because I was self isolating from willy nilly shopping and only doing big grocery trips. It was a very scary time and sometimes I got really bored because I couldn't plan my days with that much time off. I also for awhile couldn't see my family in person and I got lonely. I at least had my old pig Pineapple at the time to keep me company.

2020 and 2021 fills me with anxiety still because you think everything's fine and then all of a sudden there are a lot of potential exposures. I am going to be introducing covid 19 testings into my routine so I can have peace of mind. Turning on the news is very sad because so many people are sick and in hospital or have died from COVID 19. This is the biggest world event I've ever lived through. 

To cope even since coming back to work last year I've played a lot of animal crossing and have been keeping busy.

Mental health is very important during this pandemic just like it was before hand,

Stay safe,

curlyalicia.