The Autism News | Special Guest

By Pamela Mari | Mom to Joey, 13 yrs old, author, Curvy Herbie and Straight Nate: A Lesson in Curved Line Thinking, podcaster: Autism Warriors

Autism Awareness: One Drive-Thru At A Time

I don’t particularly like telling people my son has Autism. That is, I don’t make a practice of it unless it is specifically pertinent to the conversation or situation. But some days I feel as if I should have one of those magnetic signs plastered on the side of my car reading “Autistic Child Aboard: Stop Staring.

My son loves McDonald’s. We go there every day, except for the one or two days a year when they actually close. Joey has a series of rituals assigned to the “drive thru experience of which I, of course, am familiar. However the rest of the world is not. As can be anticipated when these scenarios are not played out to his specifications a meltdown can ensue. On one day’s trip thru the drive thru at one of the 3 local McD’s, the drive thru cashier, a young man of about 18 asked when we pulled up to pay “What’s his problem?”

A Mommy Mt. Vesuvius of frustration, embarrassment and anger boiled inside of me. “He has Autism….that’s his problem”, I replied. “Oh…I’m sorry Ma’am”, the young man choked. Realizing of course, how could this young man possibly know my son has autism, I answered “that’s ok, now you know”.

Since that day many of the staff have come to know Joey. They can tell when we are having a bad day and when we are having a good day. They engage him in a quick conversation as we drive from the pay window to the pick up window. They ask about his whereabouts on the days like today when I made the McD’s run without Joey in the car. And when the car is obviously in a state of turmoil, they post our order (always the same) on the menu board before I even get it out. On good days I try to tell them about what my son CAN do; the computer, art, his memory skills and his love for animals and Spongebob. I told the manager one day how I truly appreciate their understanding and help and that for parents of children with autism, the understanding part makes our day a little easier. Today, our drive thru guy asked “where’s Joey?” I told him he went to the Farm Show with Daddy. “Tell him I said “Hi”, he said.

Can you change people’s opinions and perceptions of things? Can you educate them without them realizing it? Can you gain friends and supporters for our kids? Certainly, one drive-thru at a time.

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