Last Minute Changes and Coronavirus

My advice is to just take life one day at a time, change will be rapid in the coming days. Some change is actually better for a short time.

Buses are less busy, every day this week there are less people on the bus, less traffic jams, and less contact with other people, so smaller chance of infection ( I hope). The paradox in this logic is that although more people are infected, we have less people to be in contact with.

However, the bus company are soon cutting services,  so less buses will mean more people per bus, unless even more people stay at home.

Every day is different,  just listen to the news for more government U turns.

I guess they've finally hit the point where they've gained as much as they can by having people's cash in their money bags in advance of when they otherwise would have. It should have happened as soon as the panic buying became widespread, IMHO, at least for the most in-demand items.

Things that I find help are to make sure that my personal timetable is up to date according to current events, and whereas it used to be possible to plan in advance, now shortening the time frame to the next week or even just the next day, but still timetabling it and planning meals and finances etc. Sticking to a routine is very helpful, having the same time for waking up and mealtimes etc. Also, I find it helps to do a regular brainstorm of all of the things that I can possibly think of that might help in any small way, and then scheduling those in and doing them, as all you can do is 'all you can do' and it is very helpful for peace of mind.

I think a few people on here should contemplate stocking some benzos, or asking their gp for some.  Get stocks in now of tablets that wil aid you in mentally surviving the next 3-4 months.

Good advice. I like the bit about turning the volume down on the radio in particular

I’ve lost it at work today. I was already upset because of unsuccessful shopping and then I found out that from March everyone in the company will have 25% pay reduction. 

I’m afraid they are going to witness more of my inappropriate and weird behaviour because I’m barely holding on.

Tesco , ASDA and Sainsbury's have announced today people will be allowed to buy 3 of one item at the most, and Co--Op have said a limit of 2 of any item. The shelves should be more full soon.

I hope those empty shelves are temporary. Today I completely freaked out because they didn’t have any eggs or flour in any of the supermarkets. And there was hardly any bread. And only soy milk. It’s getting crazy. I don’t know what I’m going to eat.

Many thanks for your useful web link. As far as I am concerned, I occasionally practice dealing with specific obstacles, such as public transport disruptions and difficult shopping conditions. We all need to eat and drink, so access to as many local supermarkets as possible is essential. In Ipswich, Suffolk, where I live, I have access to about 6 supermarkets, all of which are accessible by bus. I would usually pick the one or ones whose main bus services are not being disrupted by roadworks or other hazards. Having to wait behind a queue of roadworks-related traffic can drive me crazy, especially when I need to buy my food supplies. Ordering online is not the same as going to a supermarket, and seeing that there are staff available to help.

Anyone that is having difficulties with their food shopping experiences ought to consider doing what I'd do, by building up a shortlist of, say, 3 stores, starting the shopping spree at the most distant of those stores, and any unavailable items in the first store would be searched for in the second or third stores. Once you have what you need, you head straight home, as you could end up wasting time and effort. I would recommend buying no more than two units of each specific item, thus leaving some units for the next shopper. Some shelved items are so far away from the shelf edge, that if you could move those to the front, they would become more easily accessible to the elderly, the disabled, and those that need the items the most.

As for the 'excessive media coverage' thing, if you were listening to the radio, you should reduce the volume to the minimum audible level, and increase it only when the next song is playing. You ought to avoid any stations or programmes that are news-related, so music stations such as Heart FM would be more highly recommended. Any non-essential travel is to be avoided because you would inevitably spot a newspaper or magazine headline covering this virus. Some passengers might mention the virus in their conversations, and if they were to cough or sneeze, you should be prepared to use a different bus or train seat if necessary.

Any autistic TV viewer that has a specific interest, such as game shows, should watch a specialist channel such as Challenge TV, as their older game show episodes are safer than watching, say, a new Pointless episode on BBC1 that might get moved aside at any time. 

Puzzle books (e.g. Wordsearch, Kriss Kross, Code Words etc) are also recommended for brain-training purposes. These often cost around the £3 mark each at a high street store or supermarket, they will keep you occupied for some time, and these can be home-delivered. 

Hello, my first post on this Community forum.

I share the same frustration, stress and panic. For me its the worry of all the changes that seem to be happening, fast and quite suddenly. As much as these changes are needed, its just how quick they seem to have happened and its impact on society.

I work as a Bus Driver, and at the moment in Leicester we do not have any plans to change anything to our timetables. However it has gone notably quiet the past few days as a result of the Goverments advice and i am worried that last minute changes may be brought into force. I work late shifts so im always in a routine and my work are very supportive of this with me but i worry our late services could potentially be scaled down.

The other day i went into Tescos and the amount of empty shelves was shocking. I have a limited diet like many other fellow people on here and when i went to the Chips freezer, i was stunned to find it totally empty.

I just hope the Governement dont order a full lockdown as i am the sort of person who cant stay in the 4 walls of my flat. I can feel the impact of all this is affecting me mentally and i seriously worry what the future brings. I just hope, it will start to ease soon and society will just all go back to normal.

Not my 9 month old baby my grandaughter lol

I am scared me and my 19 year old son we both autisic. I am taking care of my grandaughter as my daughter as to work. My son is home alone big changes I stopped socialising and not running my group. I drive back and forth taking care of my 9 month old baby she's at risk due to health so we staying in 10 hours a day. We go for little walks away from everyone but that's it. I quite scared as I have asthma. No support shops selling food fast. My daughter and son shopping as they young I'm not I 49 now. I don't understand it all. 

I wrote this earlier about my experiences

undercoverautism.wordpress.com/.../

We have the same hourly bus service Monday to Saturday, and none on Sunday, so I don't see that changing unless it's stopped completely.

I got quite anxious about going shopping yesterday, in case I had to change my buying habits a lot, but it was OK, and they had nearly all the usual things I buy, with no restrictions on them. It was busier than usual, but busy in rural West Wales is like quiet in much of Britain!

We've got the start of people supporting each other in my village, with a few people offering to do shopping and help out in other ways where it's needed. It looks like my van is off the road again, and my neighbour has offered to collect pills that my dog needs from the vet. My dog needs stitches removed after an operation last week, and she's offered to remove them as she's a retired district nurse, so I don't need to take her to the vet. I e-mailed photos of the affected area to the vet, and she was happy it was healing well. I find it really difficult to connect with people well enough to ask for help, but this is a situation that affects everyone, and anyone could need help at the moment, not just those who struggle all the time, so maybe that makes it easier (or less difficult) to ask. Of course it depends on having public spirited people living nearby to make it happen.

Hello there. I myself have been struggling to cope with all the recent developments. Public transport services have become considerably less busy, and some could get reduced at any time. Being autistic, and a transport enthusiast, I find it upsetting that any weekday bus or train services should get reduced, possibly to a Saturday-style timetable. That situation can seriously disrupt my general routine, even when I'm at home, and not using public transport. Priority should be given to those in need, including the elderly, the physically disabled, and those with hidden disabilities such as autism. 

In my personal opinion, the inconsiderate shopper behaviour, and those allegedly overhyped media stories, have added to my anxiety. We should be hearing less about the rising number of coronavirus cases, and more about the rising number of people making full recoveries with no health problems.

In some stores, priority shopping hours have been given to vulnerable people. There ought to be another priority period, perhaps at around lunchtime (a 'quiet period') where all stores and other high street facilities become more accommodating to the autistic - reduced bright lighting, reduced checkout noises, priority checkouts for disabled people only and so on.

I sincerely hope that, in the interests of the autistic, the situation with the coronavirus crisis eases soon. I will not have a high street without any publicly open facilities, and being stuck at home would be unacceptable, even to those that do not have any coronavirus symptoms.

Exactly me too. But my biggest worry is about my savings and business.

£50,000 lost in the past 2 weeks and many businesses look uncertain. Those cheap holidays were a bargain ? Not to be repeated.. missed them 

This is quite a good article about Coping with the anxiety of coronavirus.

I was just starting to come out of 5 years of isolation, after finally getting my diagnosis, and now everyone else is doing it . The trouble is that now I have the answers I needed, I need to get on and sort out my life, but this is preventing that happening.

Ditto.

I'm ready with my tin foil hat and gun!

(I was being ironic, but I am suspicious of the whole hyperbole)

It could be a difficult few months. Doing stuff on the computer is potentially interesting. I sometimes play Civilization 6 for hours on the Nintendo Switch. There's a lot of strategic depth in it.

Cooking passes the time sometimes as well. If you keep looking up recipes online, there's always something new to learn or try. 

I like walking too but stopped because of not having much space to store a bike. I'm going to try to find a walking partner where I live, I'm not always that keen on walking alone as strangers tend to want to talk more, which can be irritating if lots of them do it.

I do two things everyday that make life worth living.  Go to the gym and then sit in the sauna at the gym.  Those two things keep me sane.  Those are the two things I will miss.  Tomorrow I start work on building my own gym and next week I will be buying a wood burning stove to help with the sauna issue.  I dont intend to completely isolate, in fact im planing on taking up walking and cycling once again, albeit on my own.  The next 3 months (and probably at least 3 months beyond that) are going to suck a lot.  I have pre-existing medical conditions so I will have to isolate with my parents.

Besides that I have a gaming computer with a massive library of games I've never played.  I have lost myself in several games over the years.  Maybe its time to start exploring Far Cry 5, that could take me a couple of months, then maybe lay into the ethical hacking course ive been doing for the last year or so.  Learn a new language possibly.

But yes it sucks and its a struggle.  Maybe people will stop eating endangered animals in the future so we can avoid anymore plagues. :/