One of the many common experiences discussed amongst autistic people, is that of the state of 'inertia'. Inertia is a 'sciencey word' that describes the principle of an object staying in the same place, unless motion is applied by an external force.
For autistic people, this can look like struggling to change focus, start something new and exhibiting a preference for focusing on the same thing whilst feeling a bit stuck! Unlike monotropism, where that single channeled attention tends to hold more momentum.
When this happens for me and my children, it can mean we spend many days at home, having a lot of screen time, maybe playing a lot of the same game and not having the usual variety of new experiences. After a while we (I) start to experience the negative effects of this and have to gently apply that 'external force', that must be timed right and done carefully, especially with pressure resistant young people in a low demand household!
When it is the right time and goes well though, that inertia can be transferred into a beautiful flow-state, bouncing from experience to experience and a new energy is created. This happened for us recently. After around 2 weeks at home, accompanied by a change in the weather and the aftermath of a couple of nights away, we went OUT! 2 hours of fun and friend-making at our very own 'A Different Kind of Social' led to a trip to a fruit and veg stall where we explored and chatted and even tried fruits we had never tasted before, then to the park to crunch in the leaves and fill a bag with treasures (someone got chased with a dog poo shoe as well but shh).
What I know now though, is that these times will come round in cycles, it could be another 2 or 3 weeks before we can go anywhere again, when burnout comes it can sometimes last months! But part of embracing the way myself and my children experience world as Autistic people, means acknowledging this, accepting it, preparing for the 'stuckness' and making accomodations like having shopping delivered and being grateful every time we are able to access anything else.
I'm out alone again because despite our groups being wonderfully accessible, my children have been unable to attend. One of them has been in a state of inertia for almost 3 weeks, having left the house only once, reluctantly, and we had to come home early.
Meeting their needs during periods of inertia can be difficult to balance when you have more than one child, dogs to walk, shopping to buy, work to do, people to meet and places to be. I remind myself that I meet needs, not expectations. Fortunately we don't have any timetables set in stone; I dread to think what we'd be labelled as if we had to meet targets and deadlines week after week.
In my home we all understand the feelings and the importance of validating needs and fluctuating capabilities. We understand it is about CANT not WONT.
We know our energy ebbs and flows, in a constant state of movement, then stillness, then movement, and so on. I am working on appreciating the times we must stay indoors, letting go of FOMO to really allow our bodies and minds to rest and heal and prepare for the next adventure.