AuDN4T

We decided to see a movie at the Woodbine Mall – the state of that mall really makes me wonder what is going on. I will have to further look into that but there are a lot of roof leaks.

I popped into the washroom after having dinner at the food court and there was a mom supporting her young child. She was doing a good job, like I found her coaching her young son while washing his hands very caring and loving. She seems like a mom who is doing her best to keep her son regulated. He did seem like he had a sensory issue with water. I can relate to that in a different manner when I’m beginning to have sensory overstimulation around noise and light. It might not be as extreme, but I can understand it.

I can’t imagine how hard it is for the mom being in this situation. What impact it has on her – financially, support-wise, psychologically. I don’t know if violence is an issue – but some high needs autistic children and people may have moments where they can self-harm and others. That is just the reality of it.

I really don’t know the difficulties BIPOC mom’s of high needs autistic kids go through. I can only imagine even from a gender and BIPOC pay gap. Is she working? or does she have to take care of her son because schools are not funded to support autistic kids? Does she have access to mental health care? Does work cover therapy? Does she have assistance so she could have some down time? Does she have support from family? Some family members shun other family members because 1) they don’t understand 2) don’t know how to deal with the situation, or 3) are ashamed. There could be other reasons. But not all families are supportive unfortunately. I do hope she has a good support system.

I wish I did have a convo with her but I was worried I’d overwhelm her as she’s trying to take care of her son. It felt a bit intense and I wasn’t exactly sure how to navigate it without making it harder for the three of us.

It makes me angry at what this government is doing. It’s all self interest based but when it comes to taking care of its own people, they keep stripping funding for all of us.

Legislation and processes don’t support neurodivergent people. Supporting someone during harassment in the workplace, education of police force, trying to apply for EI or WSIB (especially when you are burnout), the process is broken. It’s too complicated.

Dental care? The federal dental care won’t kick in until your next tax season because it’s based on your past years income. If you made over $90k as a family the previous year, you won’t qualify. So if you need to see a dentist, you’re going to have to pay out of pocket.

This is messed up post – but my thoughts are just bouncing here and there.

I do wish that mom knows that strangers do care and wish we could do something.