No more window washing: COVID-19 leaves autistic man longing for work

No more window washing: COVID-19 leaves autistic man longing for work

Moncton Times & Transcript  Clara Pasieka 

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This is the second in a two-part series looking at the impact of self-isolation on people with autism and their families.

Conor Doherty loves washing windows. Over the last couple of years, he has been able to spend 75 to 80 per cent of his days doing just that. But COVID-19 means he can’t.

Doherty, 24, who has autism as well as an intellectual disability and epilepsy, has been washing windows through Jobs Unlimited, an organization that helps people find jobs or volunteer opportunities, supported by an aide when needed.

When he aged out of the education system at 21, his father, Harold Doherty, said nobody was sure how that would go over. “Things like routine and all that are important to him, and he can get anxious at times,” Harold

said. But window washing has been a great fit, his father said. “He gets to work out very strenuously for most of that time period and burns off a lot of energy. He has a very, very clear routine, he has to do certain tasks.”

But that routine has been absent for the last couple of weeks with Jobs Unlimited pausing their job placement activities, like many organizations, in light of COVID-19.

“For the past few days, he’s started engaging in some screaming activity,” Harold said. “It’s because of anxiety over his routine being broken, his expectations and even the ability to physically work off energy.”

Conor is barely verbal, but has been saying ‘’Willie O’Ree” (for Willie O’Ree Place, in Fredericton, is where he wants to clean windows) and “Jobs” for the past several days, his father said. His anxiety about being away from his routine is growing, Harold said. “Probably twice a day now, he is doing some screaming,” he said, noting his son has done the same at other points of his life when anxious.

The family is trying their best by going outside for walks and offering Conor movies and other occupying activities indoors. “Jobs Unlimited had him occupied and busy doing useful things that he enjoys doing,” Harold said. “That’s what he misses the most right now -- that type of positive work activity,” said Harold Doherty.

People used to come to see Conor and talk to him while he was working as well, that’s also gone,his father said. “[Cleaning windows] might not sound glamorous but it’s an important part of his life,” said Harold Doherty.

Like many parents with children on the spectrum, he said explaining what is happening at this time to his mostly non-verbal son has been difficult.“I try to reassure him that he will be going to Jobs Unlimited and Willie O’Ree when they reopen. It is not easy to explain the coronavirus situation to him. I basically tell him the whole world is sick with the flu but it will get better and I will take him to the Willie O’Ree and Jobs when they reopen.”

– This initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. Cette initiative est financée par le gouvernement du Canada