What Would You Do - Autism
When Tyer was young, it was often challenging to eat out in public with him. He didn't understand the wait time between sitting down to the table and getting your food. After all, at home, when he came to the dinner table, I already had dinner ready to go. I would carry food with me such as crackers to give him immediately, but my carb-loving little guy wanted his french fries. He would cry huge tears while we would try to distract him. We would order them immediately when we sat down. Usually we could get him distracted and we'd have a successful meal. Other times though, there was no calming him and we'd have to leave, or sit in the car with him while the rest ate. Sometimes, noises or who knows what else would upset him.
One time there was a Pokemon promotion going on at McDonald's. It was the "hot" thing at the time. I had picked the kids up from their preschool and we were going to stop at their favorite place, McDonalds, for lunch. We walked in the door and there was a line of women all the way to the door just to buy the stupid Happy Meals with the Pokemon items. Seriously. They weren't even taking the food. They just wanted the toy. Adult women. Anyway, my 3 or 4 year old son had a meltdown. One woman had the nerve to turn around and tell me I should control my child and maybe he needs a spanking. I snapped back that maybe she needed to control her mouth and look at herself, a middle aged woman standing in line to buy a toy when all my son wanted was lunch and that he was autistic, what was her problem? She faced forward again and didn't say another word. Finally I grabbed my kids, went to the front of the line and demanded that the manager sell us our food and get all the non-food purchasers over to one register. SERIOUSLY.
Anyway, times like that would weigh heavily on me. The stares of other people, judging. The desire to calm my genuinely upset and traumatized child. At 21, Tyler now understands the difference between fast food and slow food (sit-down restaurants). No more meltdowns.
A lot has changed in 21 years. Autism and Aspergers, and disabilities in general, are more mainstream than they used to be. More people are impacted by it.
"What Would You Do", a television show that I enjoy, did a segment where they portrayed a family with a child with autism in a restaurant. The results made me cry. I want to hug each of those people in the restaurants. It gives me hope that one day we'll live in a society where another mother will never be treated like I was.
One time there was a Pokemon promotion going on at McDonald's. It was the "hot" thing at the time. I had picked the kids up from their preschool and we were going to stop at their favorite place, McDonalds, for lunch. We walked in the door and there was a line of women all the way to the door just to buy the stupid Happy Meals with the Pokemon items. Seriously. They weren't even taking the food. They just wanted the toy. Adult women. Anyway, my 3 or 4 year old son had a meltdown. One woman had the nerve to turn around and tell me I should control my child and maybe he needs a spanking. I snapped back that maybe she needed to control her mouth and look at herself, a middle aged woman standing in line to buy a toy when all my son wanted was lunch and that he was autistic, what was her problem? She faced forward again and didn't say another word. Finally I grabbed my kids, went to the front of the line and demanded that the manager sell us our food and get all the non-food purchasers over to one register. SERIOUSLY.
Anyway, times like that would weigh heavily on me. The stares of other people, judging. The desire to calm my genuinely upset and traumatized child. At 21, Tyler now understands the difference between fast food and slow food (sit-down restaurants). No more meltdowns.
A lot has changed in 21 years. Autism and Aspergers, and disabilities in general, are more mainstream than they used to be. More people are impacted by it.
"What Would You Do", a television show that I enjoy, did a segment where they portrayed a family with a child with autism in a restaurant. The results made me cry. I want to hug each of those people in the restaurants. It gives me hope that one day we'll live in a society where another mother will never be treated like I was.
.JPG)
Public times can be so difficult for people with disabilities. My daughter uses a wheel chair and children would stare at the chair. No eye contact at all, just stare at the chair. Moms would whisper to the kiddo's and yank them away. Such a flood of emotions. Sometimes I was furious, sometimes just so sad. I didn't always feel like dealing with questions but the stares were the worst. The best thing we ever did was get a service dog.. Sam broke the ice with people of all ages and suddenly they talked to my daughter. Great Post Rhonda.
ReplyDelete