Autism Lockdown Stories – Tuesday and Sawyer

Welcome to the third post in my series of autism lockdown stories.

This week, we feature Tuesday and Sawyer’s story. You will see that, once again, they have a totally different experience of autism from Edward and I, from Jasmine and Caelen and from Keeley and Preston.

The aim of this series is to highlight that the autism spectrum is vast and no two people with autism are the same. Even though I have only featured young boys so far, it is clear that they all so very different.

Tuesday and Sawyer.

So, we began the process of contacting Health Care Professionals regarding Sawyer and his possible autism about 3 weeks before the lockdown came into play. Little did we know that this pandemic would last quite as long as it has. Considering how far we are with regards to appointments etc, we still haven’t actually seen anyone face to face. Every single one of our appointments have been phone consultations or by filling out forms. Have you ever tried to explain how your autistic child behaves without actually being able to show someone? It’s really not easy! In fact, it’s super tough!

But … There are definite positives to being in lockdown during this part of our journey. It has given myself and my partner time. Time to fully take in the things that Sawyer is doing (or not doing!) Time to watch and learn from him. Time to try and teach him things that he doesn’t currently know. Time to try and understand the way he sees the world! Wehave had this unusual pocket of 3 solid months to completely embrace Sawyer’s unusual quirks and to fully try to see the world the way that he does. It definitely hasn’t been easy. There have been times that Sawyer must feel like his whole world has been turned upside down and there is absolutely no way of trying to explain the reasons why to a 2 year old. He went from spending every single day with just me to suddenly having his Daddy and 2 older brothers at home 24 hours a day. Every day. It’s been a struggle for us all, I won’t lie. But the positives by far outweigh the negatives. Watching Sawyer’s bond flourish with his Dad and brothers has been a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wouldn’t change that for anything. 

I have fully tried to embrace these unusual times and as much as I know that a little bit of normality will do everyone some good, but I have to admit that I’m going to be really sorry to not be in this bubble anymore. I will miss having help with Sawyer on a daily basis. Life with an autistic, non-verbal 2 year old is tough and the transition back to it being just the two of us will no doubt be a difficult one. As much as I’ve tried to keep our routines somewhat in place, they have changed a little. Before the lockdown, Sawyer still had a nap. He’s now outgrown that, which means that when everyone goes back to school, uni and work, there won’t be that 90 minute break that I so heavily relied on before. I’m definitely going to miss that! It’s also going to be hard work to try and reintroduce Sawyer to our families. He struggled with them before this pandemic so I don’t doubt that he’s going to find it hard to be around other people who are essentially strangers to him now. The reintroduction to groups and playdates will probably be something that I will find just as difficult as him. Not being a people person has led me to avoid those kinds of things so I can’t see that we’ll be doing them any time soon (lol!)

Here’s to life after Covid-19

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Instagram: @our_journey_with_sawyer

So a big thank you to Tuesday and Sawyer for sharing their lockdown story with us.

Do you have an autism lockdown story to share?

If so, comment below and let me know.