Ginger Taylor posted this Tweet from Canadian MD Matt Strauss. It made my blood run cold. Read it. Admissions diagnosis, starvation. Our elders are starving because Covid measures have plunged all of into.... autism. Hear me out. 

Autism is loneliness.  I once watched my beautiful then 15 year old daughter stand at the front door of my home watching the neighbors much younger kids playing in their yard. She was mesmerized from behind the screen door. Then she said three words that broke another piece of what was left of my autism ravaged heart:

Gianna wants friends.

Autism is not being able to leave the house when you want to go somewhere or do something because it may be very difficult for your child.  My daughters have never left the house without an adult, caretaker or to board a bus with an adult.  I wrote in my memoir about the time I had to leave a Chinese food order in the restaurant because my daughter had such a meltdown in the parking lot that I had to carry both her and her older sister (they were tots) back to the minivan and drive home hungry.

Autism is not knowing what the person you see is feeling because you can't read his or her facial expression.  I thank God I am old enough to have crows feet and forehead creases so that people can tell if I am smiling or angry behind my red, white and blue mask. And poor enough that I can't even consider Botox...  ha ha.

Autism is isolation. My 25, 24 and 19 year olds have not been invited to a single event that was not adult facilitated for special needs since around 5th grade. That's more than a decade without a social interaction with typical peers.

Autism is diminished financial security for adults with autism and their families alike. From this I surely know.

Autism is an epidemic.  And so are the repercussions of COVID.

We're starving. All of us.

XOX    Kim