Everybody is learning to handle social isolation and social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. People with autism spectrum disorder, like me, have often had to deal with social isolation our whole lives. It gives us a unique perspective and experience honing strategies that could help the rest of the world cope.
ASD causes a very wide range of differing thinkers. Some think more verbally, like I do. Temple Grandin, a well-known ASD advocate I spoke with for this article, thinks more visually. Both of us are professors with high-functioning abilities, what used to be called Asperger's Syndrome type symptoms.
ASD is rare, affecting about 1%-2% of the population, and is still poorly understood. While high-functioning manifestations of ASD can often produce highly successful adults, a prominent characteristic in many of us is social communication differences.
People with ASD think differently than most people, and how we face challenges is something everyone can learn from. Here are three strategies.
Schedule your time
Being stuck at home during a pandemic is almost like being on the International Space Station. There, like on Earth during a social lockdown, new rules apply.
"The most important thing is establishing a new schedule," Grandin said. "It's a real mess right now and discipline is important. For example, on the ISS, astronauts must even schedule time to be alone."
Grandin's advice: Get up, get dressed, get ready for work or online classes just like you normally would, even if you aren't leaving home.
The ASD person may embrace those new rules more quickly because she knows how important having schedules can be to productivity and happiness. Schedule changes can be very difficult for a person with unsupported ASD. Loud noises, bright lights, different food, scratchy clothes all cause distrust of change.
With adequate support and proactive scheduling, adults with ASD and everyone else can learn to make the best of schedule change.
Listen more, say less
Social distancing may make people feel socially and emotionally disconnected. We don't speak with others as often, and we don't understand the impact of this on our emotional well-being.
Some people with ASD have found that slowing down and listening is a successful adaptation for many interactions to more fully understand what another person is saying, particularly when they feel that people don't say what they mean.
Listen to the other person by watching their body language and movement. Take the time to more fully understand what the other person is saying.
Listen more and say less: People with ASD use this mantra to improve their dealings with others. It's also an important message for dealing successfully with social distancing rules. Practicing empathetic responses is important for all of us because we are in this for the long haul.
Adapt online learning to meet your needs
Everybody is learning to learn online. As college professors, Grandin and I teach students to use online resources in more productive ways.
Grandin suggests an effective way to teach online is to post prerecorded lectures, then follow them with online discussion groups where students can talk about the material, either by video or online chat. That doesn't work for everything, though.
Online learning might be harder for visual thinkers, and it may be impossible for the hands-on labs they tend to be attracted to, like Grandin's animal science labs or biology labs.
As a student, take ownership of not just hearing but really understanding the information being discussed. Memorization of discrete facts is so pre-COVID-19.
Be disciplined and schedule time to watch small segments of multimedia from the instructor and then play an active role during online discussions.
Smaller discussions groups can help accommodate different schedules and styles of using the day and night. Everybody is learning. Be ready to change the system online, as the instructor or individually as a student.
It's a different Earth
We do not yet know what our world will be like after social isolation and stay-at-home orders are lifted. Online learning will continue, as it already is for many students.
Keep to a schedule, but be ready to adapt the schedule based on new information.
Everybody is learning that the world under social isolation requires discipline as if we were living on another planet. Because we are living on another planet. Earth under quarantine in the time of COVID-19 is different than Earth at any other time before. Everybody is learning what that means for them and those they love.
Sarah Ransdell is a Professor at Nova Southeastern University
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FDA approved. 
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A teen boy having a hard time. 
Why do some folks use social media but don't engage?
Psychologist says people who never comment on social media share these 5 positive traits
For over 20 years, social media has developed into a staple in many people’s day-to-day lives. Whether it’s to keep in communication with friends and family, following the thoughts of celebrities, or watching cat videos while sipping your morning coffee, there seem to be two types of social media users: commenters and lurkers.
The term “lurker” sounds equally mysterious and insidious, with some social media users writing them off as non-participants at best or voyeurs at worst. However, mindfulness expert Lachlan Brown believes these non-commenters have some very psychologically positive and healthy traits. Let’s take a look at how each one of these traits could be beneficial and see how fruitful lurking might be even though it can drive content creators crazy.
1. Cautious about vulnerability
Consciously or not, making a post online or commenting on one puts you and your words out there. It’s a statement that everyone can see, even if it’s as simple as clicking “like.” Doing so opens yourself up to judgment, with all the good, bad, and potential misinterpretation that comes with it. Non-commenters would rather not open themselves up to that.
These silent users are connected to a concept of self-protection by simply not engaging. By just scrolling past posts or just reading/watching them without commentary, they’re preventing themselves from any downsides of sharing an opinion such as rejection, misunderstanding, or embarrassment. They also have more control on how much of themselves they’re willing to reveal to the general public, and tend to be more open face-to-face or during one-on-one/one-on-few private chats or DMs. This can be seen as a healthy boundary and prevents unnecessary exposure.
Considering many comment sections, especially involving political topics, are meant to stir negative emotional responses to increase engagement, being extra mindful about where, when, and what you comment might not be a bad idea. They might not even take the engagement bait at all. Or if they see a friend of theirs post something vulnerable, they feel more motivated to engage with them personally one-on-one rather than use social media to publicly check in on them.
2. Analytical and reflective mindset
How many times have you gone onto Reddit, YouTube, or any other site and just skimmed past comments that are just different versions of “yes, and,” “no, but,” or “yes, but”? Or the ever insightful, formerly popular comment “First!” in a thread? These silent browsers lean against adding to such noise unless they have some valid and thoughtful contribution (if they bother to comment period).
These non-posters are likely wired on reflective thinking rather than their initial intuition. Not to say that all those who comment aren’t thoughtful, but many tend to react quickly and comment based on their initial feelings rather than absorbing the information, thinking it over, researching or testing their belief, and then posting it. For "lurkers," it could by their very nature to just do all of that and not post it at all, or share their thoughts and findings privately with a friend. All in all, it’s a preference of substance over speed.
3. High sense of self-awareness
Carried over from the first two listed traits, these silent social media users incorporate their concern over their vulnerability and their reflective mindset into digital self-awareness. They know what triggers responses out of them and what causes them to engage in impulsive behavior. It could be that they have engaged with a troll in the past and felt foolish. Or that they just felt sad after a post or got into an unnecessary argument that impacted them offline. By knowing themselves and seeing what’s being discussed, they choose to weigh their words carefully or just not participate at all. It’s a form of self-preservation through restraint.
4. Prefer to observe rather than perform
Some folks treat social media as information, entertainment, or a mix of both, and commenting can feel like they’re yelling at the TV, clapping alone in a movie theater when the credits roll, or yelling “That’s not true!” to a news anchor that will never hear them. But contrary to that, social media is a place where those yells, claps, and accusations can be seen and get a response. By its design, social media is considered by experts and the media as performative, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Taking all of the previously mentioned traits into account, one can see why they would prefer to “observe the play” rather than get up on the stage of Facebook or X.
On top of that, these non-commenters could be using social media differently than those who choose to fully engage with it. Using this type of navigation, there may be nothing for them to comment about. Some commenters are even vying for this for their mental health. There are articles about how to better curate your social media feeds and manipulate algorithms to create a better social media experience to avoid unnecessary conflict or mentally tiring debate.
If you go on a blocking spree on all of your accounts and just follow the posters that boost you, it could turn your social media into a nice part of your routine as you mainly engage with others face-to-face or privately. In terms of commenting, if your curated Instagram is just following cute dogs and all you have to offer for a comment is “cute dog,” you might just enjoy the picture and then move on with your day rather than join in the noise. These non-commenters aren’t in the show and they’re fine with it.
5. Less motivated by social validation
The last trait that Brown showcases is that social media users who browse without posting tend to be independent from external validation, at least online. Social media is built to grow through feedback loops such as awarding likes, shares, and reposts of your content along with notifications letting you know that a new person follows you or wants to connect. This can lead many people to connect their activity on social media with their sense of self worth, especially with adolescents who are still figuring out their place in the world and have still-developing brains.
Engaging in social media via likes, shares, comments, and posts rewards our brains by having them release dopamine, which makes us feel good and can easily become addictive. For whatever reason, non-commenters don’t rely on social media as a means to gauge their social capital or self worth. This doesn’t make them better than those who do. While some non-commenters could have healthier ways to boost their self worth or release dopamine into their systems, many get that validation from equally unhealthy sources offline. That said, many non-commenters’ silence could be a display of independence and self confidence.
Whether you frequently comment online or don’t, it’s good to understand why you do or don’t. Analyzing your habits can help you determine whether your online engagement is healthy, or needs to be tweaked. With that information, you can then create a healthy social media experience that works for you.