Youth Today Article

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https://youthtoday.org/2021/04/pandemic-forces-autistic-people-to-cope-with-ultimate-uncertainty/

SCREENSHOT OF AUTISM SOCIETY OF AMERICA'S CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION SERIES

Autism Society president Chris Banks (left) interviewed Berkeley student Hari Srinivasan in August about how he was coping with the pandemic.

University of California, Berkeley graduate student Hari Srinivasan had finally begun to immerse himself in campus life last year — no easy feat for an autistic person who is mostly nonspeaking.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and suddenly the university system moved everything, including classes, online.

“I was enjoying the social aspects of college, building community with student organizations and even attending parties,” Srinivasan said with the help of a text-to-talk device, during an interview with Autism Society President Chris Banks on Aug. 27, 2020. “So this complete lack of face-to-face contact is a huge setback for me on the social gains I was making,”

The pandemic has been disruptive for almost everyone, but its disruptions have been particularly difficult for autistic youths, who thrive on routine.

Srinivasan and others like him have had to spend the past year finding creative ways to cope.

“This pandemic is like collective societal trauma and autism issues just exacerbates its effects,” he said. “… Many of us autistics don’t like too much uncertainty and this pandemic is like the ultimate uncertainty.”