People with autism spectrum disorder can present so differently that a common refrain is: “If you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism.” Yet, there are often startling similarities.
For one thing, children with autism can perseverate, or focus asocially, on feats of mechanical engineering. I’m referring to stuff we all encounter every day without much thought.
A common example is subway systems, a phenomenon front-line transit workers are well familiar with. They see it when these kids are dragging their parents on joy rides to nowhere or asking them technical questions so complex that they are stumped. Those interactions and the conversations those kids have around trains are a part of their atypical but still useful early socialization; it’s how life skills and civic participation can be introduced into their different worlds.
For those autistic children with language learning differences, the service announcements they hear on subway platforms can be some of the first phrases their minds grab on to. This can cut two ways. The children can become transfixed by the messages and regurgitate them meaninglessly, something called “echolalia.” Or they can grab on to their meaning and incorporate them into how they communicate with others.
In either case, it is not unusual when the first full sentence a child with autism speaks is something like, “Stand clear of the closing doors, please.”
For all these reasons, I reached out to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last year to see if it would let autistic children themselves record the agency’s regular service announcements, to be broadcast publicly throughout the New York City transit system for National Autism Acceptance Month.
To my delight, they agreed!
I posted on social media immediately and, in an hour, had three dozen families sign up their kiddos. This year, five transit agencies are participating, including Bay Area Rapid Transit, New Jersey Transit, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the MTA again.
Chicago's CTA declined in an unsigned email because, it said, “Our customers rely on our uniform travel announcements for navigating the system.” Whereas my cold call to New Jersey Transit was returned personally by its CEO in no time and with a plea for other good ideas.
With this overall success, my goal for next year is to expand into some countries with state-of-the-art mass transit systems but mixed histories in fully accepting people with disabilities into their society.
A reporter I was talking to recently was trying to figure out why this project had taken off with relative speed. “It’s not as if big bureaucratic transit agencies are known for moving quickly,” he noted. “What do they get out of it?”
I had to think about that. I told him it was an opportunity for them to celebrate the special bond they have with a devoted ridership who love them unreservedly. He kind of rolled his eyes. So I said, “Look. You know that quote that’s misattributed to Gandhi, right? The one that says the measure of a society is how well it treats its most vulnerable?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Well, with their participation in what is now being referred to as ‘The Autism Transit Announcement Project,’ these big bureaucratic agencies — that are so often criticized — get to show off how they legitimately help incorporate neurodiverse persons into civic life. These children are a fuller part of society and our community because of their love of mass transit.”
“Yeah,” I concluded. “This is part of the overall inclusion project to treat our most vulnerable equitably and thereby help repair the broken human condition.”
He rolled his eyes again.
“OK, well, it really is the perfect project for Autism Acceptance Month! How about that?”
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Jonathan Trichter had a career in finance before his life was touched by autism. He opened several special needs schools and programs around the country for children with autism.
