For the lady who was asking about driving her Autistic child to the beach and others in this situation......

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

There was a thread yesterday, can't find it now but it all ended up in a shameful pile on with covid Nazis taking great joy in sticking the boot in with whataboutery and what makes you so special. The usual shite whilst having absolutely no clue what it's like trying to contain the needs of a disabled adult who quite often have daily exercise written into their care plan. Please bear in mind this is a tiny minority of the population, most people don't have a significant learning difficulty. Nor will they be profoundly Autistic. 🙄

Well this has happened........thankfully whoever is in charge has more compassion and common sense than the plebs who educate themselves on current affairs by reading take a break. 🧐

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do?fbclid=IwAR0TzZGZmlaHhY_TvrHWTCOWhLErBC6rlPdrKabA6g8bvRNCoX9FKH74Vgs

So the advice has changed since yesterday and the people replying on that thread were answering based on the advice then, what’s your point? That they didn’t know the government would update it today?

Thanks for posting. It is useful to know this.

The point is that yesterday it was already legal to drive a short distance for appropriate exercise and it has been clarified that it is appropriate to accommodate SNs by driving to appropriate locations or increasing frequency of activity relevant to the needs of the person with SNs.

Anne no.

The people were being foul and there was absolutely no.need for some of the things they were coming out with.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that saying 'no, you can't. But I know it must be difficult' is a hell of a lot kinder than basically saying ' what makes you think you deserve special treatment just because you have an Autistic kid' now does it ?

People keep going on about the four reasons that you are allowed to leave your home but there's actually quite a few more than that.

Plus one of the main four is to help a vulnerable person and it can definitely be argued that taking a child with autism to a quiet place that they are familiar with for fresh air and exercise is 'helping a vulnerable person' so I would say that it was allowed for the parent of the child with autism to take him to their quiet beach.

It is reasonable to drive a short distance to exercise as long as you aren't going to a busy place. So you can drive to the quiet beach or to avoid walking on a busy road with no footpath but you cannot drive to visit the beach, park or lake that everyone else is trying to visit and got so crowded that they had to close the car park.

The rules are not absolutely black and white and the main aim is to avoid contact with people so if your short journey reduces your contact with people then it is within the rules.

Yes thank you for posting. We need more compassion and understanding that our lives are not always the lives of others.

Some seem to forget that we all have to live with each other when this is over.

Its worth noting that the majority of these points are guidelines and NOT enshrined in law (although think the bit about amount of daily exercise might be in Wales). I went on a 4 mile walk/run with the dog at 7:00am and after lunch, took my three children and the dog for an hour's walk.
So shoot me.
We live in a small village and I encountered nobody on this morning's walk and only a handful of people this afternoon.
No gates or stiles were encountered in the process either.

BogRoll I live on the coast and the fact they've closed the beaches is ridiculous. Some of them are 4 miles out of town along a busy road with only a smattering of houses.

This means my usual walk is now unusable. It's 5 miles of narrow path along a cliff drop but hemmed in. So what was once a walk I'd frequently.do.the full ten miles of without seeing anyone is.now swamped with cyclists, walkers and dog walkers........it's impossible to maintain social distance.

What they should have.done is had the beaches open with pcsos situated to ensure people kept moving. That's miles of open space now unused whilst people are crowding into much smaller open spaces.

So many nasty posters on that thread. I was going to post “of course you can take your child for a walk on the beach ten minutes away” but I couldn’t be bothered to interact with the COVID Police.

Thank you for the clarification even though I knew what the guidelines were for taking my son out, it seemed from the previous thread a lot of people didn’t understand so hopefully this will be a lot clearer to others who think they know the rules when clearly they don’t.

Haworthia it was horrible, mindless bear baiting.
I also know of a very devoted family who have had to hand over their child to residential care. He just couldn't cope, he was obsessively self harming, attacking his parents and siblings which ended up in someone getting badly hurt. This is an adult with the mental age of a.toddler and they've had to refuse to have him home.

Poisonous little tongue whippers need to bare in mind that those people behind a screen theyre taking great joy in putting in their place could be living in situations they can't even fathom.

I didn't know this. We have 3 autistic people in the house. We usually go Sunday so I wouldnt be going every day to take piss. I think it could really help the mental health in the house!

I'm still worried about having to answer myself though! 2 cyclists blocked me in on the road today and I was attending a aid call to an elderly that had fallen. They shouted I could wait. . I was LIVID.

I was surprised to find that the govt leaflet I got today has no mention of driving time or exercising one hour - that thread was truly depressing.

My DS has ADHD. SO it does mean, under this rule, that he can go out twice. But that would also mean me and my other two DC had to go out twice as well as the other DC cannot be left at home. I wonder if our Pediatrician would give us a letter?

I saw the same thread OP and agree that some of the responses were absolutely shameful.

Given the OP and her child had been self isolating for a number off weeks and she was planning on keeping a clear distance between them and other beach users, the risk would have been tiny.

Some people just love sticking the boot in.

So the advice has changed since yesterday and the people replying on that thread were answering based on the advice then, what’s your point?

The advice wasn’t changed, it was clarified. Many of us for whom the “once a day, near your home” advice wasn’t just difficult but impossible, have been liaising with those in charge to confirm we wouldn’t face fines for doing what is necessary.

DD is in rehab after surgery. If we stuck to “the rules” she would end up not being able to walk. Quite rightly, what we need to do is (and always has been) considered fine. Those jumping straight to “what make you so special” on that thread are hideous.

I keep wondering if posters will look back in a years time and be ashamed of how they behaved?

A little compassion goes a long way.

I feel like some posters have years of pent up nastiness and are using this as an excuse to let it all out, its beating others when they are down just to make them feel better about themselves. Its downright horrible

@Scruffyoak Omg! Did you tell them what you were doing? (Not that you were obliged to of course) Arseholes!!! I would've told them purely to make them feel guilty and think twice next time

TheOwl I think a fair few of them were saying what they've wanted to say for a while and had an excuse to get away with it. The type who think we all get free cars and houses no doubt 🙄🧐

Mavis I'd just take a diagnosis letter and show that in the unlikely event that it's needed. My ds requires 2 to 1 care in public and I've just had that letter in my bag for when we take him for his shopping which is the only tiny bit of his routine we've managed to cling onto. I haven't had to show it yet tho, probably because his needs are so obvious.

Thanks for your post, my daughter has SLD and kept announcing to everyone it was her second walk out today! She really needs 2 shortish walks a day rather than one longer one.

I’m really glad to see this. I read the thread about the beach and was horrified at some of the responses. We are driving 15 minutes for our walks as it’s either than or walk a 4 year old and an 8 year old with ASD and ADHD along a country road with no footpath which cars frequently speed along (even now with quieter traffic). We were going to playing fields 5 minutes away but the council have locked them up despite it being a massive site and there having been at least one football pitch per family group before they were locked..
vjg13 I just at your daughter announcing she was on her second walk, DS would do exactly that (if we got him on a second walk in the first place, he’s obsessed with ‘the rules’ and would likely refuse to go anyway even if suggested it!).

Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m not sure we will do it (scared of the kids getting sick) but most people have no idea what it’s like with two autistic 3 year olds, we are really struggling.

Great post. Thanks OP. Really useful. 👍 Hope you’re ok. It’s tough, but hopefully awareness will build and the support will emerge. In the meantime, we carry on......

Thank you for posting this, was a bit unsure of rules regarding driving places for walks.
We live by a main road so not safe to just take my autistic son straight out walking.
Right into the car, then 5-10 mins to beach or woods.