Day: 5 December 2020

It’s The Covid Panto, But The Children Aren’t Laughing

by Dr. Sinead Murphy Yesterday, Friday, was my darkest Covid hour. But then there dawned a light: Covid is this year’s panto. It’s just that the children aren’t laughing. First, the darkest hour: I was called to collect my younger boy from school; he, along with the rest of his class, is sent home for two weeks on account of one of his teaching assistants having tested positive for COVID-19. It is an old story at this late stage of our Covid year. But this version of the story has a twist. My younger son, who is six years old, is autistic. He cannot answer the question "What is your name?"; he does not understand the concepts of ‘Why’, ‘Where,’ ‘Who’ or ‘How’; he has no grasp of the past tense and only a tenuous one of the future. Anyone will tell you that the most important ‘treatment’ for autism is the establishing and maintaining of a routine. Not because it makes autistic children more comfortable – it is more serious than that. A stable routine is their only chance of understanding the world and operating in it. Imagine you’re having a difficult conversation on the phone. Then one of your children starts asking you where their black football top is. Then the oven timer goes off. Then the doorbell ...

Latest News

Parliament to Debate Petition Calling For "No Penalties For Declining Vaccine" The petition on the Parliament website, "Prevent any restrictions on those who refuse a COVID-19 vaccination", has reached over 278,000 signatures and Parliament has announced MPs will debate it on December 14th. You can watch it live on the UK Parliament YouTube channel. The Government response given on September 11th was hardly reassuring, coming with an ominous "however". There are currently no plans to introduce a Covid-19 vaccine in a way that penalises those who do not take up the vaccine. However, the Government will carefully consider all options to improve vaccination rates, should that be necessary. A Lockdown Sceptics reader suggests: "It’s really important ahead of the debate on December 14th that as many people as possible write to their MPs to oppose any coercive measures when it comes to the vaccine, and to ensure the vaccine doesn’t become a requirement for business, travel, employment etc." We quite agree. Time to hit that compose button. Here's the Write To Them link again. A Postcard from Switzerland A Lockdown Sceptics reader has gone to work in Switzerland for the winter, a country which has faced its autumn surge without a new national lockdown. I'm working in the Swiss canton of Valais for the winter season. I was initially going to be ...

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