Items

• 
  2022-05-26

  Tucker Carlson tries to link Uvalde massacre to COVID "lockdowns" while rejecting gun restrictions

  This is a news story from Salon by Meaghan Ellis. This is an opinion piece on what this author thinks about Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson and his approach to the shooting in Texas. The news story says that Carlson claims the lockdowns increased mental illness cases. Whether this is true remains to be seen, but from my own experience with lockdowns, I did have trouble adjusting. I had at least a few mental breakdowns over feeling like a prisoner in my own home. I don't think the lockdowns would trigger everyone into becoming a potential mass shooter, but I do not think they were healthy for many people either. People need human contact regularly, and being cut off from that and only having social media or very few people to see in-person would feel isolating. I think mental health is not paid attention to enough by public health officials when it comes to lockdowns. Mental health is still part of overall health. I do understand why the lockdowns happened, but I think many went on too long, which has had a bad effect on society. It is obviously not the only reason someone would have a mental illness, but for people that already did have mental issues, it made them worse. I have high functioning autism and without a good support system, I'd possibly be doing way worse.
• 
  2022-05-10

  High Rates of COVID Vaccination Among Adults With Autism

  This is a news story from Health Day. Adults with autism have been shown to have higher rates of vaccination according to a new study. Those with autism are more at-risk for severe illness if they contract the disease, say researchers. To get the data, researchers sent online surveys to 431 autistic adults in Pennsylvania. They showed that about 78% of survey respondents said they had received or intended to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 55% said that they had received at least one dose. In comparison, 42% of the overall adult population in Pennsylvania had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of the median response date for the survey (April 2, 2021), according to the study. The findings were published in the journal Vaccine.
• 
  2022-04-15

  Why the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Disproportionately Impacted BIPOC and Women With Autism

  This is a news story from Now This News by Talia Smith. The author says that over the course of the pandemic, BIPOC and autistic women have been disproportionately affected. BIPOC parents who were not able to work remotely struggled to support their autistic children. One study led by the NIH analyzing the impact of the pandemic on BIPOC and low-income populations shows that families with a child living with autism witnessed an increase in sleep issues and behavioral problems, in addition to increased conflict between children and adults and the use of more severe disciplinary methods. In a study published in “Molecular Autism,” researchers revealed that for adults with autism, the pandemic brought relief from certain stressors like “sensory overload” and ultimately led to an “increase in solidarity.”
• 2022-03-24

  High Functioning Autism during a Pandemic

  For those that are somewhat familiar with autism, one might believe the pandemic was perfect for someone like me. People were encouraged not to speak to each other in person, everyone had to keep a distance, and masks were everywhere to conceal the face. These things, for me, were what I dreaded. I had a pretty good routine going before the pandemic. I had just graduated college with my bachelor degree and was getting used to being married. I was also caring for my grandma as one of my first jobs. I got to get up every morning, earn money, and make sure my husband was well cared for. My husband and I would go places for date nights and we would sometimes do spontaneous things like midnight grocery shopping for ice cream. Things were just carefree. Then a few months into our marriage, things changed a lot (more for me than for my husband). I enjoyed going to church in person for both my spiritual needs and for the social aspects it gave me. Once March 2020 happened, I couldn't go to church in person. Church was online and it became harder for me to get into it and actually concentrate. I then just stopped going altogether for a while because I wanted to have that human connection I was missing. Eventually, I was able to go to church again, but I had to wear a mask. I dealt with it even though I didn't like it. It was sad to see so many people's faces covered by cloth. It made it feel like I couldn't connect to people as well. My social skills aren't terrible if everyone wears a mask, but I'm more likely to miss certain cues or tell when someone is joking. I focus on the mouth a lot when people talk, so not getting to see mouths was bothersome. Other elements of my life changed, and autism made it worse for me in some ways. Due to my older habits of wanting to go places more often, the stay-at-home orders that occurred at the very beginning made me feel like a prisoner and that I couldn't choose things for myself as often. This increased my anxiety a lot, to a point of a mental breakdown. My husband was luckily very understanding of my issues, so I was eventually able to recover once I gave myself more work to occupy my time with. Of all the COVID rules I had to follow, social distancing was one of the easiest things for me, but only in a few ways. I was fine with talking in person from a distance, as I already do that naturally, but I was not okay with having to talk to people more often through online video like Zoom. Zoom feels so unnatural because seeing people through video is not the same as seeing them in person. I didn't have to do it very often, but I was greatly unhappy at the annual family Christmas celebration in 2020 was all on Zoom. It didn't feel as festive as I would have wished. Autism in general has made COVID much harder to deal with, and sometimes I think that if I didn't have it that I could have adjusted better to the abrupt changes COVID brought into my life. I did learn some things though. I learned that I need a set routine to get things done, and that if I have a problem, I shouldn't feel afraid to be more honest about it. With my husband having had to work from home due to COVID, both of us have had to work on better communication skills. I don't think everything I've learned from this experience has been bad, but it's also not something I want to go through again.
• 
  2021-10-15

  HIST30060: From Year 12 to First-Year University

  I interviewed my younger sibling, 'F', and transcribed the audio. They completed Year 12 in 2020 and then began university in 2021, which I believe is a significant transitionary time especially in the context of Covid to document. Their experiences in using different media forms for online classes is insightful and provides an interesting comparison. Additionally they provide insights into changing interests, socialising online, and reflecting on the world around them. They reflect on how they believe the nature of people has changed in relation to each other in an isolated but connected world, which I believe will be an interesting and informative insight for the future to gain an indepth understanding of the Covd-19 era from the perspective of the youth.
• 
  2020-03-13

  Plight of a single Father

  Forcibly grown neighborhood community in the height of a pandemic.
• 2020-03-16

  My life with COVID

  The COVID pandemic has affected everyone around the world. Going into march of 2020, I had a lot of pressure put on me by my parents to either quit my job, or take time off because they didn't know how serious the virus was and wanted me to take no chances. I also have an autistic brother who cannot speak so I didn't want to risk giving COVID to him. At the time, nobody knew how severe the virus was, but as time passed I witnessed first hand how serious it was. When I got back to work after taking time off, I saw what I thought was a joke. Shelves of foods completely empty, and all toilet paper sold out as well other cleaning products. This went on for about a month before people stopped buying a lot of things in fear. There would be lines outside of my job because too many people were coming and we didn't want to have a lot of people gathered in one place for safety reasons. More time passed and things sort of went back to normal but people now wore masks and practiced social distancing. Now over a year later, things are more calm and people are finally doing the right thing and wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus and end this pandemic.
• 
  03/11/2021

  Tom Dickinson Oral History, 2020/03/11

  “Chef” Tom Dickinson is the Culinary Instructor for Fairfield High School in Northern California. A native of Oregon, Tom shares his journey in overcoming his personal challenges as a student with Autism who was often dismissed by his educators, to becoming a beloved teacher himself. He is currently organizing the development of a comprehensive culinary program that teaches students essential life and job skills. Tom reflects of the effects Covid-19 has had on his life, community, and students. He reflects on the challenges of online learning and shares the creative ways he has tried to connect with students using technology during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-12-09

  Missing Assignments List

  “School is very difficult for me online, as I don't have access to the resources I would if I were attending school physically. I cannot get the extra help I need, and without someone supervising me I'm forgetful and less likely to get my assignments in.” -Mary Harrigan I am submitting this object, along with Mary’s reasoning behind sending me this screenshot because it shows the ways that the education system is overwhelmed in trying to transition to remote forms of learning, which is, in turn, leaving behind many neurodiverse students. While the environment at home may be a bit more comfortable for Mary due to better control of external stimuli, they still don’t have access to the accommodations they need as an autistic student in high school. This object also shows the overwhelming nature of online schooling, and how the technologies we use to help in remote learning oftentimes cause more stress to the student because the reminder of how much work they have is constant: it is on their phones which they carry with them everywhere. Additionally, Mary is Autistic and Nonbinary, Both of these identities are not typically represented within historical records. and I think it's important that their experiences be preserved within this archive.
• 
  2020-11-13

  Teen Vogue: “Students With Cognitive Differences Say COVID-19 Derailed Their Routines”

  I am submitting this article because my collection while trying to center neurodiversity, seems to be leaning pretty heavily towards ADHD. This article follows the experiences of 5 different autistic students with school and the pandemic. This article also speaks to the work universities have put in to better accommodate their neurodiverse students through programs that center them and their need for different approaches to education. In submitting this article, I hope that it provides greater clarity that neurodiverse people are not a monolith of the same symptoms and experiences, but rather lead different lives that have all been individually affected by the pandemic. It is important that the collection has many different perspectives within it so that future researchers don’t confuse a single experience with a universal one.
• 2020-06-06

  A Redeemed Graduation

  My friend, who has autism, was very excited to graduate from High School. He spent years struggling with behavioral issues, enduring the isolation that comes from being an atypical kid in a school that had not prioritized his needs. When the pandemic hit, it hit him particularly hard. He had a specific routine, one which included restaurants, public parks, travel, all of which had been cut short by the drastic effects of the pandemic. He had regressed in a lot of his behaviors and he became very isolated. He still continued with his education, and by Summer of 2020, he was to graduate, but was upset when learning that it would be only a Zoom graduation. However, local parents in my city got together and went outside with balloons out of their cars and honked to celebrate his graduation while his Mom gifted him his diploma. It was a very encouraging thing to know that all aspects of society, even those silenced voices, were considered and accommodated where possible in these troubling times.
• 2020-06-04

  A Redeemed Graduation

  My family friend, who has autism, was very excited to graduate from High School. He spent years struggling with behavioral issues, enduring the isolation that comes from being an atypical kid in a school that had not prioritized his needs. When the pandemic hit, it hit him particularly hard. He had a specific routine, one which included restaurants, public parks, travel, all of which had been cut short by the drastic effects of the pandemic. He had regressed in a lot of his behaviors and he became very isolated. He still continued with his education, and by Summer of 2020, he was to graduate, but was upset when learning that it would be only a Zoom graduation. However, local parents in my city got together and went outside with balloons out of their cars and honked to celebrate his graduation while his Mom gifted him his diploma. It was a very encouraging thing to know that all aspects of society, even those silenced voices, were considered and accommodated where possible in these troubling times.
• 2020-04-14

  Children in a pandemic

  Children and the pandemic. My four year old daughter does not understand what a pandemic is. She repeats that she cannot go outside or to school or to the park because of "the coronavirus". Her and her siblings, along with children all over the world, have been greatly impacted by this pandemic with no understanding of the ramifications of it's spread. Children have been sent home, isolated, many removed from space places like schools or after care programs. They have lost friendships and socialization. They have lost structure. Some have lost family members. Parents out of work have cost their family food or housing. Adults struggling to cope with their own depression and anxiety has increased children's as well. For me personally all seven of my children have been affected. My son was forced to move home from college and fell into a deep depression. My oldest daughter never walked across a graduation stage or finished her senior year. My fifteen year old with autism lost support services from school. My thirteen year old lost sports and his friendships. My ten year old with epilepsy had medical testing pushed back and then had hospitalizations with only one parent allowed, even had to be taken by paramedics alone to the hospital once. My seven year old with ADHD lost all class structure and intervention programs to help him and his anxiety and panic attacks have grown more severe. And my four year old, pictured above, lost her classroom and her joy from attending preschool daily. The new round of "return to school" virtually is brought with more anxiety and worry that the kids are not alright. The picture above showcases the innocence of a child wanting to explore the world, trapped inside and the slight sadness that this may be for the long haul. #REL101
• 
  2020-04-30

  Children in a pandemic

  Children and the pandemic. My four year old daughter does not understand what a pandemic is. She repeats that she cannot go outside or to school or to the park because of "the coronavirus". Her and her siblings, along with children all over the world, have been greatly impacted by this pandemic with no understanding of the ramifications of it's spread. Children have been sent home, isolated, many removed from space places like schools or after care programs. They have lost friendships and socialization. They have lost structure. Some have lost family members. Parents out of work have cost their family food or housing. Adults struggling to cope with their own depression and anxiety has increased children's as well. For me personally all seven of my children have been affected. My son was forced to move home from college and fell into a deep depression. My oldest daughter never walked across a graduation stage or finished her senior year. My fifteen year old with autism lost support services from school. My thirteen year old lost sports and his friendships. My ten year old with epilepsy had medical testing pushed back and then had hospitalizations with only one parent allowed, even had to be taken by paramedics alone to the hospital once. My seven year old with ADHD lost all class structure and intervention programs to help him and his anxiety and panic attacks have grown more severe. And my four year old, pictured above, lost her classroom and her joy from attending preschool daily. The new round of "return to school" virtually is brought with more anxiety and worry that the kids are not alright. The picture above showcases the innocence of a child wanting to explore the world, trapped inside and the slight sadness that this may be for the long haul. #REL101
• 
  2020-04-29

  Of Autism and Surviving Quarantine

  It tells about How we as a family is dealing with the Pandemic and how Gab, my son with ASD is surviving and even thriving
• 
  2020-03-14

  Finally Relating

  Once the President announced the National Emergency for COVID-19, this meme surfaced bridging a similarity to the feeling parents of children with autism live out daily to society new normal.