The Brisbane , Queensland
1/. One of the boys did a little dance in front of Santa to demonstrate how excited he was - Mum thought it was cute.
2/. Santa looked at the 6 years old tee-shirt and asked Mum 'has he had his medication yet"?
3/. Mum was shocked but as they were at the head of a line of lots of children the boys continued with their visit to speak with Santa. The boys started telling Santa what they wanted; but Santa spoke over top of them saying 'what about a jail cell'?
4/. Mum said 'excuse me', and one of the little fellas asked said innocently 'a jail cell'..
5/. Santa again asked the little fella if he wanted a 'jail cell'.
6/. Mum said she thought 'how dare he say that, he's not playing up, he's not been naughty'.
7/. Mum took it up with centre management - and I suspect some legal firm locally will come to the rescue with regards to discrimination against people with autism - I will leave the comments on that topic to legal practitioners who work specifically in that area.
What is important;
(a) Santa represents millions upon millions of people who do not understand what autism or Asperger's is.
(b) No one; be it Government or private organisations are doing anything to change the perception. Such a change of perception requires dedicated programmes placing people with autism or Asperger's in jobs and in visible places where they can contribute in the community.
(c) Why should a child (or adult) wear a tee-shirt that supposedly explains their normal behaviour. Remember; the way people with autism and or Asperger's behave is normal for their life. Labels do not help anyone. It might make things a little easier for parents but what next; hanging a sign around a small child's neck who pinched something down the corner store 'I steal'.
(d) Mum Tammy was mortified (and rightfully so); but she claimed that the children were not been naughty or playing up. So what if they were - been naughty and playing up is a tag put on children with autism and or Asperger's. Understand that such a tag does not belong. We are not naughty or misbehaving in our world; we are expressing ourselves and trying to communicate. Do not label us! You are ones who are different; teach the world to understand us.
(e) Mum Tammy and everyone else who thinks that we do not understand what is said to us and the cruel intent of what is said are very wrong. WE UNDERSTAND. I suspect her boys also related the world ‘jail’ with bad people and that Santa was telling them they were bad. Most people with autism and or Asperger’s who understand in this way will generally ignore it – we get it all the time.
(f) If you want to look up the newspaper story and take action of your own with regards to this please do so. The world begins to change with one lone voice speaking up.
1/. One of the boys did a little dance in front of Santa to demonstrate how excited he was - Mum thought it was cute.
2/. Santa looked at the 6 years old tee-shirt and asked Mum 'has he had his medication yet"?
3/. Mum was shocked but as they were at the head of a line of lots of children the boys continued with their visit to speak with Santa. The boys started telling Santa what they wanted; but Santa spoke over top of them saying 'what about a jail cell'?
4/. Mum said 'excuse me', and one of the little fellas asked said innocently 'a jail cell'..
5/. Santa again asked the little fella if he wanted a 'jail cell'.
6/. Mum said she thought 'how dare he say that, he's not playing up, he's not been naughty'.
7/. Mum took it up with centre management - and I suspect some legal firm locally will come to the rescue with regards to discrimination against people with autism - I will leave the comments on that topic to legal practitioners who work specifically in that area.
What is important;
(a) Santa represents millions upon millions of people who do not understand what autism or Asperger's is.
(b) No one; be it Government or private organisations are doing anything to change the perception. Such a change of perception requires dedicated programmes placing people with autism or Asperger's in jobs and in visible places where they can contribute in the community.
(c) Why should a child (or adult) wear a tee-shirt that supposedly explains their normal behaviour. Remember; the way people with autism and or Asperger's behave is normal for their life. Labels do not help anyone. It might make things a little easier for parents but what next; hanging a sign around a small child's neck who pinched something down the corner store 'I steal'.
(d) Mum Tammy was mortified (and rightfully so); but she claimed that the children were not been naughty or playing up. So what if they were - been naughty and playing up is a tag put on children with autism and or Asperger's. Understand that such a tag does not belong. We are not naughty or misbehaving in our world; we are expressing ourselves and trying to communicate. Do not label us! You are ones who are different; teach the world to understand us.
(e) Mum Tammy and everyone else who thinks that we do not understand what is said to us and the cruel intent of what is said are very wrong. WE UNDERSTAND. I suspect her boys also related the world ‘jail’ with bad people and that Santa was telling them they were bad. Most people with autism and or Asperger’s who understand in this way will generally ignore it – we get it all the time.
(f) If you want to look up the newspaper story and take action of your own with regards to this please do so. The world begins to change with one lone voice speaking up.
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