By Pepper Parr
April 11th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
There are six flag poles outside city hall. We aware of them, especially when they are at half-staff – we wonder who died.
The city frequently uses the lead pole – the one closest to city hall, when it wants to raise a “special Interest” flag. The Rainbow flag is an example.
City hall with its six flag poles.
Last week the Mayor raised the autism flag. People tend to either shrug or think “that’s nice” and move on if they happen to see a special interest flag.
For the families that have children whose health is somewhere on the autism spectrum the raising of that flag is much more than a passing event.
It is the community’s acceptance that an acknowledgement has been made and that there is some level of acceptance and understanding.
Coincidentally, last week – maybe a little longer than that – Sesame Street introduce “Julia” a child with autism to the program. The creation of this character and her introduction to the program was five years in the making.
But there she is – very real in the minds of young children. It is hard to explain how the parents of autistic children feel about this change in a social norm.
A year or so ago, a group of parents with older – more than 18 years of age – family members met in a day long workshop at ThinkSpot in Lowville to think through an approach they wanted to make to the provincial government about the care and welfare of their children.
For these parents there is a terrible, dreadful fear over who will care for their autistic children. They worry about who will take care of their children when they are no longer able to do so. They have special needs that are not provided once they are past the age of 18.
“They just get dumped” was the way one parent put it. Out of that workshop came an application for a Trillium grant that allowed the creation of a plan for a different approach to the care of older autistic people.
That flag going up a pole at city hall in Burlington was more than a simple flag raising occasion – it was a sign and an acceptance that change was needed and that change was taking place.
Who would have thought that Julia, an autistic child, would become a main character on a hugely popular children’s television program.
Raise more than a flag to that step forward.
