delayedtoddler

As a parent, I find myself watching what I say more and more.  Words that were common for me or my husband to say sounded so terrible coming out of our babies’ mouths. This has become even more of an issue with B’s echolalia–because trust me, the word that you don’t want her to pick up on will be the one she repeats constantly.

One word that I’ve never been a fan of is the R word.  I know that there are lots of words that begin with R, but this one is hurtful, disrespectful and offensive.  You can take the pledge to end the R-word by clicking the button at the top of this post.  I’m also including a button which will stay on the front page of my blog.

Halifax Bridge photo by Sibley Hunter

This just makes me so frustrated.  Eight year old Izaak Croft, a classically autistic boy was on a day camp field trip in Halifax. The campers were taking public transit.  Izaak started screaming because he was overstimulated and the driver kicked him off the bus! Rather than allow the camp counsellors to help the boy settle, all 15 children had to get off the bus and were not granted transfers.

I know what it’s like when my little girl is overstimulated and needs some help to get settled into a new situation.  Yes, she’s noisy and she’s upset and she probably causes a distraction to others but after a few minutes, she will calm down.  Can you imagine how this boy felt, with all the sounds and crowd on the bus?  For sure he was overstimulated.  He couldn’t handle all the stimulation and he screamed–that’s how he handles it.  I’m sure the screaming unnerved the driver and made him uncomfortable.  However,  if given a chance, as they requested of the driver, Izaak’s counsellors most likely would have been able to calm him because they know him and what helps him to relax.  This would have made it easier for Izaak the next time he had to take public transit.  And probably with each subsequent trip, his outbursts would be less and less.

The boy’s father, David Croft,  wants an apology and training for drivers and I don’t think he’s asking too much.  Of course, I think a lot of people could benefit from training about special needs.

In visiting theHalifax Transit website, I found their policy which states that, “Metro Transit operators have the authority to deny passengers the right to board Metro Transit vehicles or remove any passenger who may be causing a disturbance or damage to the vehicle”. So Izaak is causing a disturbance…I wonder if they received a warning or were given any amount of time to calm him down before the driver exerted his authority. Now the Tranist Authority did contact Croft to arrange for Izaak to have access to the bus for the disabled, so they did try to come up with something for him. From what I can see, he may qualify for service being “Unable to communicate orally or through sign language; this inability must be associated with another significant inability”. But he’d only be allowed one companion (provided there was room)–so much for daycamp.

I can understand Halifax Transit’s point of view, but really, how hard would it have been for them to exert a little understanding towards this young boy and his companions?