Because there's nothing an autistic child, who craves stability and predictability, likes more than the idea of a sudden, unpredictable, massive event that would shake the earth and everything around him.
(Just as I'm typing this, I see a tweet from a friend who lives just south of me that says "EARTHQUAKE." Are you shitting me? There was actually an earthquake in the near vicinity while I'm fucking blogging about earthquakes? What are the odds? I didn't feel it. Hubs felt it in SF, though)
In the car yesterday after school:
Child 1: Will there be an earthquake today?
Me: Oh, fuck. Um.... I don't know, I don't think so, I hope not. Why do you ask?
Child 1: And what is an earthquake, again?
Me: That's when the earth shakes all around you. And is really fucking scary. And things will come crashing down around your head. And people could die. And the next one that happens around here will be so serious that we have food stored in a shed in our backyard just in case our house falls down.
Child 1: And will we have to leave the city?
Me: Leave the city?? Why would... wait, did they say in your class that you might have to leave the city?
Child 1: yes they did.
Me: No, if there's an earthquake we will not have to leave the city. We can stay in Berkeley where we live.
So, thanks People Who Write Standards. Now my autistic child, who has a really hard time with sudden, unexplained things happening, is now worried about earthquakes. And what do you say when your child asks if there's going to be an earthquake today? Which he does? Now? Apparently all the time? What can you say, because nobody knows the answer. There was a fucking earthquake as I was writing this thing! I have no idea how I'm going to handle this one. Fucking earthquakes.
But, hey! On the plus side, he's learning stuff in class, right? Yeah.
