I tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, December 12th. My isolation will end tonight 12/19 at midnight, as my symptoms began on Thursday the 10th, and the isolation order in New York State right now is 10 days. It has been odd. I'm fully vaccinated and thankfully my symptoms were medium to mild and then fell off quickly to very mild for most of my time in isolation. I'm very thankful for vaccines. Please get vaccinated and boosted if you can.
There's so much more time to think in isolation than I've had in...years. I've been reading the Bible a lot, catching up on shows I missed, and watching lots of football. My wife has had the much more difficult task of quarantine with 3 sons and caring for my needs. She is my hero. Our church and community has shown up with all the help we have needed. I am very grateful for life, my family and our friends. Kim created the "Ficktastic Homeschool" in our new office room for this week. Here is an action shot:
I'd send worksheets every day to our printer over the internets and Leo would wait, perched on the couch for them to print and gleefully exclaim: "Are these for school today!" Most mornings and evenings I've done a video chat with my kids. Having 2 Facebook Portal's has been a great help. I can read Wally and Leo interactive stories and they love the effects, especially sky diving and the dragon head one.
While we are making the best of this odd time, I can't help but wonder how Wally is understanding this. The first few days it was obviously hard on him. I don't know how Kimberly explained it to him or what he really knows. But one way he coped with the separation was to shove things under my door. You know just the essentials: baby toys, a bean bag, a McQueen, a touch and feel book. It was adorable and heart breaking at the same time. I think he just wanted to play with me.
Some days he'll bang his head on the door and then say, "Ouch! I hurt my head." All I can do is sigh and ask him to not bang his head on my door, and tell him that it is locked and I can't open it. Eventually he goes back downstairs. It's hard.
It is so odd to only be able to hear faintly what is going on in the rest of our always active house. I want to help Kim parent, but I have to stay here. I want to give them hugs and pat their heads and hold their hands, and play with them and chase them, but I have to stay here. This is probably the most difficult part of my isolation.
In isolation I am limited to one sense, hearing. Temple Grandin talks about her senses being crisscrossed and overstimulated in all kinds of ways. So I think this experience might help me understand Wally's autism a bit better. When you focus on only one sense it is very hard to really grasp what's happening. It's not enough information to understand what's going on. I feel an overwhelming sense of powerlessness because I can't see or touch or smell or taste...I can only hear, and only faintly hear, what is going on. Sometimes there's enough with just the audio to respond intelligently to what's going on, but then I'm not always heard by those on the other side of the door! Probably because they don't expect me to respond, because most times I'm silent, immobilized by an incomplete and incomprehensible amount of information.
My guess is that Wally feels some of these things. He's added so many words, but there are still times where he's just not talking. He's focused on one thing, and he's not responding to what we are saying. It seems like his eyes have taken over and his ears are shut off. He's only seeing the object he's interested in. That's why we have to gain his attention first before communication can begin.
I can't wait to hug my kids and have them hop up on my lap tomorrow. I can't wait to see them and their facial expressions. I can't wait to give some relief to my exhausted wife. These are all gifts. Mostly I am thankful to still be alive to see how Wally keeps growing and changing.
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