THE PROBLEM IS UNDERSTANDING (slogan for the National Autistic Society's 40th year in 2002."

Bonjour, bonjour chers amis du Potager, Lisa n'a pas écrit depuis longtemps car elle a eu qques soucis au pays du bio avec OGMs ... Elle doit se trouver un autre carré où pousser .... En attendant, voici ce qui est arrivé à Laurel, mon "advocate" pour mon fils, elle-même maman d'un petit autiste de 10 ans. ça donne une idée de ce que ça peut parfois donner en lieu public. pour ma part j'ai résolu le problème en portant des badges qui disent des trucs comme "OUI mon fils est autiste, NON, vous n'avez pas à regarder ou faire des commentaires ... " ou bien "Mon fils est autiste, et vous quelle est votre excuse pour regarder ? ". Je sais ça a l'air un peu agressif mais lisez et vous verrez pourquoi au bout d'un moment on se sent le besoin de communiquer ainsi ...

I took my kids to the Cracker Barrel yesterday. A small treat to celebrate February vacation.
In a nutshell, I had prepared a social story/script for my 10 year old. He expected to have to give our name and wait (something lots of typical kids aren't great at!). He also expected that when our name got called, we would be seated. We checked in, letting them know there was a child w/ ASD in our party. We waited. Our name was called and we were told to follow a hostess, with menus in hand. All great, except there was NOT a table ready (there would not be for another 4 or 5 minutes which in "autism-time" is like 10 hours), and they told us to wait in front of a very hot fireplace, in a crowded restaurant. My kid, predictably, had a huge meltdown. He had major sensory overload thanks to the heat of the fire, he couldn't wait any longer, the manager, who had been told he had ASD, walked by us and said nothing, the hostess we were standing with, after I again reiterated "my child has autism and waiting is hard and I am sorry but you should not have called us until there was a table", could have cared less.
Customers started yelling at us about how poorly behaved he was and how "he needed a good spanking". Autism affects 1 in 91 children, yet the ignorance is amazing. (Remember, it's the Cracker Barrel, a "family-friendly, affordable" restaurant). The worst part was my daughters were so embarrassed by their brother, being a sibling a child with autism stinks sometimes. My kid was so upset (and, for 80 pounds, he is strong), I could not even carry him out to leave. There we were, stuck in front of a blazing fireplace, my kid hitting and kicking and screaming, and the management did NOTHING. Needless to say, actually the meal too stressful for him, When we were leaving, I was in tears and the cashier saw that and called a manager over. We promptly then got yelled at by people in line behind us to pay asking why they had to wait.
I have always tried to keep my child out in the community, despite the autism, despite the anxiety. I prepare him as best I can. Not that it matters, but I work in this field so don't think I am completely incompetent.
There is a website for feedback, If anyone would like to choose to contact the chain and let them know that they might want to consider doing so training for their staff.http://www.crackerbarrel.com/contact.cfm?doc_id=926
Clearly, I perhaps didn't do everything I should have/could have/would have, but feel free to forward this on with my name redacted, if you so choose. As a friend (Sue L.) with an adult child with autism has written often, "This moment of insanity is brought to you by Autism". That's how yesterday felt.
Take care and Happy Valentine's Day,Laurel