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The Covid-19 crisis has created a number of unique challenges for parents of special needs, autistic children and children with learning difficulties.

The current coronavirus lockdown has left most of us feeling disorientated in one way or another. Routines have been altered, disrupted, and in some cases, abandoned completely. The lockdown is difficult for most people, but this can be particularly acute for those children with special needs, learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorder. With our routines thrown completely out, this can cause anxiety and distress for our children with special needs, much more so than in neurotypical children. If you’re a parent of an autistic child, you’ll potentially have already seen the effects of school closures and routine changes in your little one. Even seemingly small changes can feel catastrophic to children with special needs. This sudden unexpected change and disruption to life is extremely hard for these children.

Obsessions, repetitive behaviour and routines are how children with special needs cope with everyday life. Part of their diagnosis involves these patterns of behaviours, activities or interests. This includes having a very specific routine, for example eating the same foods or keeping to set times and places throughout the day. A cancelled appointment, empty shelf or closure of a local café can be so much more than an inconvenience for them – it could trigger intense stress and lead to a meltdown or a shut down.

If a traffic accident or roadworks makes a parent deviate from the way they normally drive to school, it can lead to heightened anxiety for the child and even them refusing to get out of the car. School closures and special times of the year, like Christmas, can be magical to many families, but a time of trepidation for parents of children with special needs, who know that they can’t cope with the unexpected, the change of routine, even the sensory assaults of the season, such as smells. These occasions need careful planning and preparing the child for changes of routine.

The coronavirus pandemic has been and still is exceptionally challenging. So what do families of neuro diverse children do when you add a global pandemic into the mix?

For the child, the security and routine of school and their classroom assistant is taken away from them and everyone around them is acting anxious. They're told they can’t go to the play park or see their cousins and everyone must stay in their houses because of a virus that can kill.

Generally unforeseen and sudden change isn't easy. But for children with special needs, it can be particularly bewildering and distressing. For autistic children, in particular, any kind of quarantine means that all things resembling a previous schedule is about to go out of the window. However, where one routine ends another can always begin. For this reason, finding a new “normal” is essential and it’s best that this new routine contains some traces of the old ones. For example:

• Sleep: when to go to bed and when to rise and shine
• Clothes worn: so even if someone isn’t going to school they can still wear their uniform to study at home
• Diet: the only time it IS okay to stockpile one specific food (fingers crossed you don’t need pasta)
• Shows watched: recording favourite shows is never a bad idea, especially when ‘breaking news’ might break into daily viewing.
• Exercise
• Furthermore, during this time, exercise will be extremely important for physical health, de-stressing and tiring them out (to ensure a sleep schedule can be kept).

Don't have a conversation when emotions are running high. It's easy to get caught and want to have your say, but really, don't. If anyone is in the emotional zone, nothing is going to get solved. Every bone in your body will be wanting to have its say, but walk away.

While exams may have been cancelled, the preparation for the next stage of study is still significant. Perhaps instead of enforcing a work pattern that doesn't appear to have a finishing point, you can work together to agree a future target and work towards that. So acknowledge your child's frustration. Listen to what they say, don't try and fix it, just acknowledge their feelings. Understandably, many are now on the hunt for ideal autism activities to pass the days and establish a new routine. Here is a list of 10 ideal indoor activities for children with special needs.

What should parents do?

• Create a Calendar

• Since early December, coronavirus has run amok with any plans we might once have had. As such, creating plans which focus on the who, what, where, when and why of a day is a great way to still a child with special needs nerves and, by keeping these schedules short i.e. only planning a few days ahead, you reduce the chance that you will have to take a rain check yet again. Furthermore, turning this planning into an activity, in which you draw a calendar with visuals, is a fun way to ingrain the information and the finished product can then be hung on the wall for constant reassurance.

  
• Learn Stuff
• You may or may not have noticed that the autistic mind is brilliant where, due to a processing path that loves to create deeply connected links, we are capable of pulling out obscure facts that even we’re surprised we know. When cooped up, it’s easy to let this intellect slack off, however, doing so can be detrimental to an artist's self-confidence and self-esteem.
• For youngsters, the solution here is to build a routine around the school lessons plans which you have probably been avoiding like coronavirus itself – something which can be done by slowly but surely trialling different times/locations until we find the perfect Goldilocks of a schedule in which we work best.
• For children with special needs of all ages, now is also the perfect opportunity to practice some of the areas we are not so strong in (like ball throwing games to promote hand-eye coordination). However, if you’re looking to develop an area which we aren’t pre-programmed to suck at, then why not find an opportunity to excel in one of the many online courses – such as one of the hundreds of online lectures taught by the leading academics. This can include:
• • Magic
  • Drawing
  • Photography
  • Sustainability
  • Chess
  • Hamilton (the musical)
  • Hamilton (the man)
  Every language under the sun (and some which are no longer around)
  • Coronavirus (in case you haven’t heard enough about that recently)
  • Learning (yes, you can even learn about learning)
• 
• Cooking

• Cooking is an ideal activity for autistic people of all ages and abilities, as it’s set recipes and stringent rules provide ample opportunity for creativity. In particular, children with special needs who have sensory issues can find something exceptionally soothing about working with batters and pastes, while those who are non-verbal will find lots to learn in its hands-on lessons. During the coronavirus lockdown, cooking is especially recommended as an activity for children with special needs as, not only does it give you a tasty way to kill time, but it also provides the opportunity to create some of those treasured foods which you might not currently have access to. For example, if you can’t find pasta on the shelves, then grab some salt, olive oil, flour and water and you’re ready to make a nifty vegan substitute.

  
• Read a Book

• With the Corona virus turning most of the world as quiet as a library, it seems only fitting to use the hours, days and weeks ahead of us to harness our inner bookworm and fall headfirst into the land of literature. Of course, whether non-fiction or fiction, physical, digital or on audiobook (many of which are currently free through Audible), there is no right way to read or wrong genre to check out.

• 
• Stay Fit

• Staying fit and healthy during lockdown isn’t a recommendation but a requirement, as it will not only maintain your immune system but also increase those sweet, sweet endorphins to keep you mentally healthy.

• 
• Virtual Reality/Virtual Tours

• As many of the world’s greatest attractions lie more abandoned, a select few are finding a second life to entertain and educate on the World Wide Web. For children with special needs, the benefits of this are endless and include: avoiding crowded rooms, harsh museum lights and not having to wait in line for the loos. And, whether you go down the VR route or edge towards a 360 interactive tour, the variety on offer here is sure to capture even the most easily distracted out there.

• A select few you might want to check out are:

  • The Louvre, Paris
  • Smithsonian, Washington DC
  • NASA, Ohio
  • Houston Zoo, Houston
  • National Aquarium, Baltimore
  • The Vatican, Vatican City
  • Legoland Hotel, Billund
  • My Old University Hall, Manchester

  
• DIY

• It’s a commonly held belief that children with special needs are bound by repetition. However, to us, our routines aren’t about doing the same activity over and over but achieving the same thing again and again. This task can give us a sense of purpose and security and so, without it, we can become exceptionally anxious and in need of something to do – enter, D.I.Y. D.I.Y. is great for restoring a child with special needs sense of purpose during the corona virus lockdown and can range from painting a mural on the wall, fixing that creaky door or tidying up the garden to creating sensory jewellery, building a cardboard instrument or even making your own fidget devices. In fact, when it comes to D.I.Y. in the children with special needs community, there really is no job too big or too small. Just remember, when picking a task, things need to be kept age and ability appropriate: too difficult and we will only occur unnecessary stress, while too easy can be boring and we will move on fast.

  
• 
• Watch TV (in Moderation)
• During the lockdown, there is a very real risk that many of us will become so reliant on our TVs that, by the time we are allowed out, we might find that we have become fused to our sofas, only capable of communicating by humming the Newsnight theme tune. Don’t let this deter you though as, in small doses, TV can provide a great escape from the often-overwhelming world and, as such, shouldn’t be overlooked as a distraction during the pandemic.

• Additionally, with so many movies, like Trolls: World Tour and The Invisible Man, coming to home viewing early, as well as many of the popular streaming sites currently offering COVID-19 deals, now is the ideal time to check out some of the awesome offerings you might have missed. Furthermore, it’s also worth noting that some streaming sites are currently giving away content for the low, low price of nothing . So, if you’ve already seen everything on your preferred site, then why not see what you can get elsewhere.

• 
• Stay in Contact with Friends & Family

• While it’s still recommended to use this time to nurture your relationships, consider using instant messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Facebook messenger or even old school emails (if you can remember what they are), as this brings the conversation into our court; where we have plenty of time to respond, emojis to make emotional recognition easier, no pressure of having to suppress stims or make eye contact and, of course, the glory that is gifs!

• 
• Play a Game
• When it comes to gaming during the Corona virus lockdown, of course, you can always bust out that old Cluedo board but, let’s be honest, is now really the time to introduce another dangerous mystery to solve?

• Instead, why not try something you’ve never done before and give one of the many makeshift activities from around The Web a shot. For children with special needs, many of these games are great as, not only do most come with uncomplicated rules for people of all abilities, but they also ensure unsolicited fun that will bring the household together in a way that the relationship ruining Monopoly could only dream of.

• 
• Pom Pom Racing:

• In Pom Pom Racing, racers compete to see who can blow a cotton wool ball around a makeshift course the fastest. Using a straw here helps to ensure no one hits their head on anything and creating intricate Sellotape tracks (with lots of twists and turns) will help reduce the game turning into a contest of who can blow the hardest.

• 
• Human Pachinko Machine:

• If you live somewhere with stairs (I should be so lucky), then an awesome game which has gained attention online is to place different coloured containers (like cups and bowls) at the bottom of the steps and, from there, challenge each other to see who can roll the most S ball into containers from the top stair. If you want to make it more competitive, try assigning different values to the various goals and, in a darts inspired score scheme, get contestants to aim for a specific number and see who can get the closest

• Bobbing for Skittles:

• Put a bag of Skittles (or other low weight, coloured sweets) into a bowl and then see who can remove the most of a specific colour from out (using only a straw) within a set time. Whether you score the highest or not, this game is always a winner as you all get to end by ‘tasting the rainbow’.

• 
• Pub Quiz:

• I’m sure this one speaks for itself, but creating quizzes on any autistic person’s favourite subject is a great game during lockdown, as it will get the brain going and reward our restricted interests. Better yet, thanks to the miracle of the internet, all you really need to get a winning quiz is give the topic a search with the word ‘quiz’ added at the end and you are likely to find tons of results.

• 
• Scavenger Hunt:

• Another self-explanatory game, this involves creating a list of items to search for, around the house, but instead of giving the name of the item write vague clues such as ‘it’s something with a face, two hands but no arms or legs’ (and the answer was a clock).Since the outbreak of coronavirus, parents have been forced to change how they do things. Children not going to school and parents having to work from home, all happening abruptly, has left many parents struggling to cope with the adjustments. The change in environment and schedule can prove difficult especially during this period when everyone is expected to quarantine and maintain social distance. When it comes to taking care of a child with special needs, it takes a different kind of energy and strength. There are endless demands and challenges parents raising these kids go through.

• 

• Keeping a sense of their daily routine is one of the major problems that autistic kids face. Managing sensory issues is a big task for them.

• Parents can adopt some steps to manage their autistic, children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and children with special needs at home.

• Personal hygiene:Since most autistic kids have the habit of putting their hands inside their mouth, they should be taught steps to ensure personal hygiene, like washing hands using soap.

• How to do it?

• Divide and conquer:

• Split the activity into smaller tasks, like opening the tap, wetting the hands, using the soap to wash and so on.

• Physical cueing:

• Only give the required physical support, let them slowly do it on their own.

• Modelling:

• Parents should first demonstrate the steps and let the kids follow.

• Reinforcement:

• Encourage and applaud them when they complete a step.

• Food:

• Hyperactivity and stereotypical behaviour can be controlled through diet. Avoid fried food, chocolates, milk products, sweets, food made of wheat flour.

• Medicine:

• Vitamin supplements and medicines for epilepsy should not be discontinued. Call the doctor to review the condition.

• Regular routine:

• Since kids can’t go to school or attend therapy, there is a possibility of a change in routines. So, prepare a routine. They must be shown a visual schedule of the activities, like waking up, brushing, playtime and the like.

• No phones:

• Avoid mobile phones and electronic gadgets.

• Family’s role:

• Other members of the family should also engage the children with activities like playing hide and seek, peek-a-boo, playing catch.

• Daily activities:

• Involve and train them in activities like placing plates in the sink after lunch, keeping the newspaper at its place, closing the gates, washing their own dishes, arranging shoes on the rack, making the bed and others.

• Bedtime stories:

• Use a broad book and tell a story by showing images.

• Sensory integration activities:

• Sensory processing is one of the major difficulties autistic children face. They can follow sensory stimulation activities at home. An occupational therapist can give guidance over the phone.

• The activities include
• • Oil massage before bathing.
  • Finger painting.
  • Making dough.
  • Rolling mats or blankets.
  • Identifying talcum powder, perfume and coffee powder by smell.

• Activities that can be practised while sitting:

  Sorting vegetables and grains. Matching fruits (Show a picture and make kids identify the fruit). Arranging spoon and dish stands.

• Documentation and follow-up:

• Document the kid’s performance at home and consult the therapist once a week.

• Safety awareness and precautions:

  Keep an eye on them so that they do not pick any sharp objects. Avoid cold items

Don't lose hope. When the sun goes down the stars come out.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

• University of Minnesota
• Oxford University
• Autism services
• CAMHS
• Rise NI

• Candy Voss - Autism Western Cape

DR HOOSAIN EBRAHIM