When life becomes overwhelming for one of her three profoundly autistic sons, Kathrine Peereboom’s go-to plan is a drive to the local park.
The familiar route is one of the quickest ways to soothe Oliver, eight, or Joshua, seven and five-year-old Tyler, who crave routine and thrive in structured environments like most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Such drives are common coping tools used by families across Australia, but one that has been taken from them by the five-kilometre travel limit imposed during lockdown, robbing the autistic kids and their parents of the routines they rely upon.
