Opinion: People with autism shouldn’t be closed off from families in pandemic

Despite the challenges of the past few months, the emphasis on staying at home has given many families extra time together. Meals once spent apart are now shared, and parents can experience moments with their children they may have missed before. There's time for that conversation that was put off for too long, time to share something new with each other, a chance to grow closer.

But this isn't everyone's experience. In fact, for some families, the coronavirus pandemic has forced them apart. The problem affects children and young adults with autism who live in facilities that have been cut off from visitors. Texas has the ability to change this situation, and our hope is that Gov. Greg Abbott will take action to do so.

Texas is home to more than 800 facilities offering 24-hour residential services for people with intellectual disabilities or related conditions. In order to meet their children's special needs, parents of children with autism often turn to such specialized living facilities for help. Some facilities house both minors and young adults, and while some residents are over the age of 18, they are often still very dependent on their parents.

As the state enacted restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus, however, officials treated these facilities the same as nursing homes serving elderly and sick residents. Such facilities have been closed to visitors since March.

This prohibition makes no sense for autism facilities, which house an entirely different population than nursing homes do. And this unnecessary separation is traumatic for autistic children and young adults, who rely on the personal connection and interaction with their parents.

The difficulties faced by an autistic child or young adult are significantly exacerbated by disruptions to normal schedules and expectations. When people with autism can no longer see their parents, their sense of normalcy is upended and they have difficulty coping. Any child struggles while he or she is away from their parents. For a child with autism, this separation is immensely more painful.

Facilities that care for and house younger patients should be considered differently than nursing homes for the elderly. Autistic patients need specialized care, but their health is not challenged or their immune system compromised any more than any other teenager or young adult. To qualify and categorize a 19-year-old the same as an 84-year-old simply makes no sense. And a facility that provides developmental, social emotional support is not the same as one that provides critical health and hospice care. Surely the state can determine different and appropriate protocols for each.

To be clear, these families are not seeking an absence of safety measures. They're simply asking that appropriate steps be taken to ensure a safe way for them to be with their children.

As they continue to miss regular visits, shared conversations, birthday celebrations and more, parents of children with autism call on Texas leaders to take action that will reunite their families. A simple clarification of policy can ensure health and safety while at the same time returning a sense of normalcy for loved ones. And for families, that change can't happen soon enough.

Wood Rich is the founder of the Central Texas Autism Center in Austin and has over 25 years experience working with children and adults with autism.

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