We’ve all been guilty of staring at a misbehaved child and silently judging their parents for not being able to control their own child as they disrupt the peace.
Typically, however, those outbursts have little to do with bad parenting, which is why one mom decided to print out business cards explaining why her son, who was diagnosed with autism at three years old, behaved the way he did to educate people who jumped to incorrect conclusions.
45-year-old Sunnie Sciascia was used to her son’s outbursts, but she could always feel stranger’s judgment while out in public, and knew she had to do something after a stranger rudely called out her son’s bad behavior.
“I was at a restaurant with Georgie and my husband, and we were having a great time until a lady who had a disability yelled out across the restaurant ‘what’s wrong with your son?’ Sciascia said. ‘Everyone stopped to look at her and looked at us. And I was a bit angry so I yelled back saying ‘he has autism’.”
After that incident, the Western Australian mom decided to print out ‘business cards’ explaining how her son has autism when she noticed people staring.
“Hi, you have noticed that my son is different,” the card says. “Our son has autism, he may be very loud at times, or seem shy or doesn’t say much. but our son is very happy, caring and loves being around other children.”
“Autism is a neurological disability, which means that parts of our son’s brain works well and other parts do not. However with love, therapy, a great diet and lot’s of hugs and kisses our little man is improving everyday. I thank you for your time, have a lovely day,” the card concludes.
“It just changed my life. I was going up to people and they were looking at us funny and I would just hand over this card, and their faces would change straight away,” Sciascia said. “They become more sympathetic. I’ve had so many people come and hug me, tell me I’m doing a great job and it just basically completely changed my whole outlook on autism.”
Do you think this is the best way to handle a situation like this? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image credit: Constance Hall]
Mom Hands Out Cards To Strangers Staring At Her Autistic Son To Explain His Behavior is an article from: LifeDaily