Face masks and hidden disabilities

[Firef1y72]

So I'm guessing those of us with hidden disabilities such as autism are going to have to wear some sort of huge badge or lanyard now if we want to use public transport.

I've tried using a face covering, I last less than a minute before the sensory overload starts to kick in. I can't wear my glasses that help me see, so wont be able to wear a mask. Cant stand things over my ears.

So I've been trying to get used to wearing a running buff over my mouth/nose. It's not happening, feels like I'm suffocating and no way I'd last the 40 minute bus journey in to town, without going in to sensory overload.

So if (and it's a big if) I am going to be exempt then I'm going to be even more of a social pariah than I am now with my stimming. The world just seems to get more dystopian by the day.

No I do know that. I have a friend currently in a ventilator with covid 19. Her organs are failing so probably won’t survive. She is young(ish) and healthy just very unlucky.
Please don’t underestimate this illness. If you cannot cover your face then don’t travel on public transport. We all have to make sacrifices some people enormous ones also for other people.

Risk assessments will have to be made. The risk of someone not wearing a mask versus the risk of eg that person becoming distressed and attacking everyone around them and the mask still not being warn.

If you cannot cover your face then don’t travel on public transport.

I’m sorry about your friend but it’s not reasonable to ask people to quit their jobs or cease essential medical care, just because not wearing a mask very slightly increases their chance of spreading a disease which they may or may not have.

Equally people who are vulnerable ( and we don’t always know who they are) also have a right to travel on public transport and visit hospitals and be protected. I have one colleague who have to visit the hospital several times a week for dialysis and one colleague who has just come out of hospital after leukaemia treatment. Should they not be allowed to be out in public?

I know it’s not an easy discussion. I have one child with sensory issues who don’t tolerate his face mask well, but it’s not about just him here.

Should they not be allowed to be out in public?

But that’s the whole point. Protecting the rights of vulnerable people who aren’t medically able to wear masks to use public transport.

Over the rights of other medically vulnerable
people and hospital staff? Not sure I agree.

So you want cancer patients to be left to die, because of the minuscule hypothetical possibility there might be another medically vulnerable person on the same bus, that the patient might have COVID, that they might be sitting near enough for transmission, that the patient might happen to sneeze or cough at the exact moment a vulnerable person happens to be in close proximity, etc. etc.

You’re perfectly happy banning millions from working or attending hospital appointments, just to slightly decrease the risk of infection in a purely hypothetical situation?

is that question for me? Why would you die because you could not travel on public transport? I suppose you have to revisit the idea about a badge for people who really cannot tolerate masks as otherwise half the country will claim sensory issues.

Why would you die because you could not travel on public transport?

I’ll stop chemo and let you know, shall I?

or maybe you can overcome your issue with masks. Mine is not tight at all. It’s not just about you even if you are on chemo. It’s also about the people treating you and in the waiting room etc with you

or maybe you can overcome your issue with masks.

I don’t have an “issue” with masks. I am, like many people with severe respiratory problems, banned from wearing one because they are actively dangerous to people with breathing problems.

'Why would you die because you could not travel on public transport? '

Seriously?

How else do you expect people on low incomes to get to work/ hosp etc?

And the point of public transport is it's for everyone. Clue is in the name.

The government has already said people with respiratory problems do Not need to wear one haven’t they? I was commenting re sensory issues only. Agree people with respiratory issues and also children cannot always wear masks.

I was commenting re sensory issues only.

I was commenting re: respiratory issues only.

My understanding is that anyone with a medical/disability-related reason is excused from the new rule.

Personally I am worried that masks appear to be becoming a magical talisman which the government waves in the hopes people are distracted and ignore how badly the government have been fucking up and how they are throwing vulnerable people under a bus to protect the economy. Non-medical masks do relatively little to stop transmission, may even increase transmission, encourage complacency, and hardly anyone wears and maintains them correctly.

IMO it’s dangerous to start policing what you consider acceptable reasons (respiratory conditions) and unacceptable reasons (ASD). There’s no way for people to tell the difference, and no one except trained transport authorities should be confronting people for not wearing one.

WHO have updated their guidance on masks and are now recommending that all Governments ask everyone to wear a mask when in public places eg. public transport, shops and refugee camps , where there is a risk of transmission of Covid 19, to help reduce spread.

"Over 60's with underlying health conditions , should go further and wear medical grade masks to give themselves better protection" ! (God knows where they would find those in the UK given the PPE fiasco).

@BeardedMum

or maybe you can overcome your issue with masks. Mine is not tight at all. It’s not just about you even if you are on chemo. It’s also about the people treating you and in the waiting room etc with you

You obviously have no idea what it is actually like to live with autism.

And I find some of your comments very offensive. So I should be locked in my house, not go shopping, not go to any hospital appointments???

At least I know now, all I need is a positive attitude to overcome my autism. I'll stop cutting labels out of my clothes and start looking at people when they talk to me at the same time as I miraculously overcome the issues I have because of my lifelong condition.

I think I would have been thrown off the site of i had said what I actually wanted to then BTW.

My issue is not about how tight something is over my face, its because its touching my face/ears/head

I’ve not read the full thread but I totally agree. I teach children with severe autism in that they most are non verbal, they rely on a lot of non verbal cues to communicate. I was working with one the other day and offered a mask which I refused because 1) the reason I was working with him was because I was a familiar face and 2) a lot of his communication is smiles and gestures. I also could not maintain any kind of social distance but I accepted that risk.

Most of my children would not tolerate wearing masks either.

Just to add, I spent 45 years trying to "overcome" my issues, not knowing the reason why had those issues. Then after my diagnosis I've spent another 3 years learning to accept that there is a reason why I'm so "quirky", that I am who I am and finding a way to fit in with a world that doesn't understand and is very unaccepting of people who are a little bit different. Attitudes like yours are why I am so worried about the face covering rule, because I know people like you will at the very least stare and mutter under their breath and at the most outright challenge me.

I am trying to get used to having my mouth/nose covered, but am lasting less than 30sec before I need to rip it off my face. If I try to keep it on any longer then I start going in to sensory overload and then I will most likely have a meltdown, and unless you've actually experienced a meltdown you can't know just how terrifying that can be not only for the person having it but for those around them.

Maybe you should campaign for tougher stringencies on people that don't wear the masks because they're lazy then op. Most people are concerned about the use of masks. If it's the law to wear one it is you that needs to worm around this if you choose not to wear a badge or the like.

Why you wouldn't I'm not sure. Is it something to be ashamed of? I wore my pregnancy badge on the tub due to any fucks who couldn't care less about me not being able to stand for two minutes without feeling ill. Sounds like you're out for a fight tbh

Work not worm?!

platonicgin people are targeted for abuse because they have a disability. It is nothing like wearing a pregnancy badge.

The dept of health has said that non mask wearers will not be refused medical treatment.

I’m happy to wear a badge or to carry a doctor letter stating that I have a respiratory impairment. But I’m only willing to show medical documents and discuss my medical history with police/transport police who are authorised to do so, and who understand the law.

We should not be encouraging vigilantism or encouraging a culture where people feel they can accost someone for not wearing a mask. Someone with a vigilante mentality may not be aware that there are medical exceptions, will probably not understand how to communicate with people who have communication problems (not everyone with ASD has communication issues but many do) and will likely be starting from a combative attitude. It’s doubtful such a person would take kindly to being told the person they are challenging is exempt.

It comes down to whose rights trump whose.

For example, I am very allergic to dogs, but visually-impaired people are allowed to take guide dogs everywhere. The compromise is most seeing dogs are a breed that tends not to provoke such strong allergic reactions in people - but ultimately, someone's right to 'see' where they are going trumps my right to not feel (temporarily) unwell, and I accept that. I could sit next to a guide dog for an hour on public transport (although I'd probably have to discreetly pop a pill), but I'd struggle with a longer journey and would have to move. It's just how it is.

Your face covering doesn't protect you, it protects other people. The question here is does your right to avoid the sensory issues trump other people's rights not to catch Covid from you?

It's not possible to treat everyone the same all of the time, as not all adjustments are reasonable.

There are plenty of people trapped in their own homes right now as they are vulnerable to catching Covid and don't trust the Government's magical declaration that shielding is over. It's all a bit shit, but you're not alone. At least you can still get out for daily exercise - if you go for a walk or run locally and avoid other people, there's no real need to wear a mask.