Photo credit: alex_virt, flickr.com

On 30th November 2021, I received a notification on my phone from the NHS COVID-19 app that said someone I had been in close contact with had tested positive for COVID-19. The app also told me that I might need to self-isolate for 10 days. I answered a series of questions that determined if I needed to self-isolate or not. One question asked me if I had been fully vaccinated on or before 14th November 2021. Because I have autism and I interpreted the question to include my COVID-19 booster vaccine that I received on 27th November 2021, I answered, “No.” I was then told I needed to self-isolate and take a PCR test, which came back as negative. I also decided to self-isolate because the notification did not tell me if my close contact had normal COVID-19 or the Omicron variant, two cases of which were confirmed in my local area at the time I received the notification. Because my first day of self-isolation was 30th November 2021, I assumed that I needed to self-isolate up to and including 10th December despite the countdown feature on the app saying 9th December. The confusion of whether I needed to self-isolate or not as well as how long to self-isolate for has made me postpone a professional cleaner visiting my flat and an optician appointment, and miss out on my neurodivergent recruitment agency's Christmas get-together. 

When I posted a Facebook status update, Instagram stories and Tweets about my self-isolation, people on all of these platforms told me that I did not need to self-isolate if I had both my COVID-19 vaccines. They also told me to phone the NHS and tell them that I did not need to self-isolate. Because I don’t feel very confident on the phone due to my poor diction, I decided to continue with my self-isolation.

The NHS COVID-19 app could be made more accessible to neurodiverse people. (i.e. those who have dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism and ADHD) in the following ways:

• Specifying if the close contact has normal COVID-19 or a new variant of it. This is especially beneficial for people with dyslexia or autism.
• Telling users of the app how long to self-isolate for by including the first day they need to self-isolate. For example, if the person is told they need to self-isolate on 30th November 2021, that date is the very first day they need to do so.
• Making the questions more specific, such as the question about being fully vaccinated on or before a particular date not including any boosters. Again, people with dyslexia or autism might find this beneficial.
• An online chat feature that people with autism might find more beneficial than using the phone in case they prefer written communication.

If the above changes were made to the NHS COVID-19 app, neurodiverse people would be more likely to use it.