3 weeks into the Covid-19 situation, and the effects on life for those with autism cannot be understated. For Donal, his routines are broken, his life has been turned upside down, and he has no idea why. Here’s a little insight on #WorldAutismAwarenessDay

For Donal, routine is everything. The 3 screenshots capture his whole routine - which has been completely changed out of nowhere. No day services. No visits to friends or trips to Ikea with Mam, no trips down the country to games with Dad

The point in this screenshot is the most important one. With Donal on the lower end of the spectrum, we can’t explain what is going on to him. He has no idea why his routine has been completely changed overnight. And there’s nothing we can do to change that

A huge part of Donals personality is his love of human interaction. He loves physical interaction with others, it’s his natural instinct. We simply cannot enforce social distancing for him. It is not possible to explain this to him.

But another massive part of his personality is his love of the outdoors. So we can’t keep him inside during this pandemic. But of course with this inability to enforce social distancing with Donal this has led to an issue or 2....

Donal is extremely tactile with everyone in the family- hugs, kisses and high fives for everyone, especially my Mam. This has led to comments to my Mam while out with Donal in recent weeks such as “would you not have left him at home today?”

Comments such as this unfortunately show there is still a high level of ignorance in our society relating to those with disabilities. There has got to be more awareness raised. It’s 2020. We surely have to be beyond hurtful, shaming comments towards my Mam about Donal

But on the flip side to all this, it can’t be understated how incredible a job the carers in Donals life have been doing these last few weeks to try keep him happy - a point made by my Dad in his interview in the independent today

But massive credit must go to my parents - despite this huge change to Donals routine they continue to take him out on Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Sundays. And despite the challenges this has posed, they have never complained once. They’ve put Donals needs before everything else

So while this is an incredibly testing time for us all, I’m first of all beyond proud of my parents and how they’ve handled this situation. Their selflessness has been incredible. Where Donals concerned they’ve never taken a day off

But what I’m most proud of is Donal. To be coping with this situation as he is. His whole life turned upside down with no explanation & yet he’s surviving. He’s my hero, that’s for sure #WorldAutismAwarenessDay