In this week’s podcast, Dale Pickles from B Squared is joined by Lana Grant to discuss Autism and Coronavirus – The new normal for children and their families.
We recorded this episode on the 1st of September 2020 and over the next few days the majority of students across England returned to school. Everyone has responded to the pandemic and the lockdown differently. For people with autism in particular there have been some positives of lockdown and returning to normal or a “new normal” could cause a lot of anxiety.
In the podcast, we discuss the outcome of the pandemic and what it means for our children and their parents/carers. How have autistic people coped going into lockdown and then coming out? What are the concerns for the future and how can we support families to move forward in these seasons of change and unpredictability?
For autistic people in particular there have been some positives of lockdown. A parent had commented to Lana that it was if the whole world now knows what autism is like…needing to socially distance, the need for routine and rule-following, less crowded places, not being able to read people’s expressions due to face coverings. Then we came out of lockdown and this increased lots of people’s anxiety and mental health as things began to change almost back to normal.
Lana Grant
Lana has a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and is also a parent of children on the autistic spectrum. Lana is a specialist SEN advisor and an advocate for SEN children and their families. Lana’s first book “From Here To Maternity, pregnancy and motherhood on the Autism Spectrum” was published in 2015. Lana also contributes to various articles, podcasts and delivers talks at various shows and events.
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