Posted on 03/22/2008 12:41:56 PM PDT by Maelstorm
It is believed to be a first in Western New York. A traffic sign alerting drivers that there is a child in the area with autism.
Take a trip down Sargent Drive in the town of Amherst and you will no doubt see the traffic sign. It's a warning sign that there is a child in the area with autism. The Amherst Traffic Safety Board put the signs on the street Wednesday morning.
The father of Sawyer Aston, 8, took the idea of installing a traffic sign on their street to town officials several months ago. The idea was researched and approved.
According to the Autism Society of America, autism is the result of 1 in 150 births. It is the fastest-growing developmental disability.
Sawyer does not talk. His parents say he does not understand the danger of walking into the street as a car is passing by. The Aston's have taken numerous precautions to take keep Sawyer safe. He wears a tracking device and they have a fenced in front yard.
No, I agree with you.
I belong to many a homeschool group. In every one is a parent(s) of a child with special needs. Some demand, some are nice. Some sure overuse the kid.
I have tons of patience with the children. They can’t help how they are. But when I see my Niece-in-law who demands NOTHING for her son, handling it all herself and compare it to the “victim” parents who want all accomodations, I have to pray hard to keep from resenting it.
And BTW, how do they know the child is diabetic?
I don’t know what “Open Range, Loose Stock” means.
Poly, the picture of that child reminds me of what I used to do. Banana, spaghetti, and even Vaseline would go in my hair.
Leave it to the Amherst Traffic Safety Board, that town has turned wacko.
That would be great also if your into weird stuff that might not be a wrong turn
‘zactly. The thing that made me most crazy is that the entire extended family of about 12 were treated to the same line-jumping accommodations. And S-i-L (who was one of the extended and only tangentially related to the diabetic child) thought it was all fine and dandy.
You are quite right. If a sign must be carefully explained, then it’s not doing its job.
That is at WSMR!
it is amazing that people with such insensitivity walk among us. perhaps there should be a sign permanently posted outside your house that reads “shockingly ignorant person in area.” i have a severely Autistic, 10 year old child and have fears every day that she could wander out into the street and get hit by a passing car. having known someone whose sister was killed by a motorist at that same tender age, i think often about the horror through which that family lived. i also remember the incredible torture experienced since then by the driver of the car that ran the child down—i knew him too. for your sake, i hope that you are not ever in such a position.
Brad you must have really had to look to find this fairly old post. Also I see you are fairly new because this must be your first post. That said I’d never seen a sign like this and I feel sympathy for you and your 10 year old child but the truth is that you are responsible for that child and will be for a long time regardless of the signs that are put up. I always watch for kids and never drive fast in residential areas and get upset when I see people doing just that. My wife’s aunt who is a mentally disabled was hit by a car. Maybe it wouldn’t have happened if they had a sign up saying mentally handicapped person living nearby but I doubt it. The person was probably drunk it was clear they had swerved off the road when they hit her. It would be nice if life was so simple as banning handguns to save lives and putting up a sign for all the folks who might wander into the road to keep them from getting run over by people texting on cell phones.
I’m not even opposed to signs but then again this isn’t even about signs it is the difference between intentions and reality. I doubt they make much difference and they most certainly won’t protect and Autistic child who is unsupervised because even if they don’t run into the road they can get lost in the woods, or fall down a well just like any other child who is too young or just plain unlucky.
So don’t assume I’m ignorant just because I don’t take every good intention to heart. I was just marveling that in a world so driven by sensitivity that such a sign seemed a bit insensitive and a bit overthetop.
Oh my that is horrible but funny.
What’s he doing, playing with another kids head?
Get a book, read it, and get educated about special needs children and adults. And by the way, with the Slow Children sign, and the Stop sign and the universal handicap sign posted in front of my house - - drivers continue to disregard all of them and speed down my road, blast through the stop sign and wave us off like we are nothings as we shout at them as they race by.
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