Rollercoaster - part 2

I've only barely written my previous post when the rollercoaster is suddenly picking up even a lot more speed. In Flanders there is a lot of commotion for the moment about a boy called Thomas. He's 12 years old, high-functioning autistic and they're threatening him to take him away from his mother. The reason? Thomas can't go to school anymore. If I'm correct, they've tried no less than seven schools (imagine that for an autistic boy!) but none of them was able to give him the special attention he needs. So he and his mother are desperate. The appalling thing is though, that if by September he is not inscribed in any school, the "juvenile protection centre" will take him away from his mother and put him into foster care because she'd be supposedly a "bad mother" for "not sending him to school".

But brave little Thomas isn't giving up so easily. He's planning to start his own school, especially for autistic children! He's already found a suitable building (a school that was recently closed) and... he wrote a (very emotional) letter to the minister of education asking him permission to use this building for this purpose. "Only the water and electricity supply is still a problem, but that can certainly be fixed", he wrote. And "since there are so many unemployed teachers, we'll have no problem finding teachers for the school. My brother said that unemployed people receive an income from the State, they call it unemployment fee or something. So these teachers will cost you nothing more". :-)

His story and his letter caused a national outrage and next week he'll be in one of Flanders most popular talkshows on TV ("Goedele op dinsdag").

Now, what does this story have to do with me, you might ask? Thomas was present during the presentation of my book last week, and he claims in the interview that I've given him the courage to write the letter, because I told him never to give up. As an autistic boy, he's taken my words very literally. Personally, I doubt it if I have truly triggered him to take these initiatives. He's obviously a very courageous boy; courage which he already possessed long before he got to know me. Nevertheless he's asked the producers of the talkshow if I couldn't be present as well. So I also got an invitation and they're even willing to make an effort to pay for my flight (which doesn't come cheap at this short notice) and a hotel for the night.

Probably Thomas sees in me someone who truly understands his problem, and rightfully so. When he asked me during the presentation what I did against all the bullying at school, I felt very sad having to reply that I hadn't found the answer to that question yet. We, autistic people, have such a hard time understanding irony and mockery so we are the perfect victims. Our frustration for not being able to properly respond quickly turns into anger and sometimes even aggression. Which makes us even more perfect.

I sincerely hope that I can help him feel better and I'm absolutely convinced that he's destined for great things. He's already achieved more in one week than I in over forty years! Kudos, Thomas!!!