Mall turns down lights and music for children with autism,
Autistic children get private meeting with Santa outside Christmas clatter
The mall was an hour away from opening, the lights dimmed and the Christmas music off. And for three-year-old Jacques Guimont-Tardif, dressed in a neat red vest over a crisp plaid shirt, it was by far the best way to finally meet Santa on his own terms, far removed from the long line you can stand in for up to an hour-and-ahalf to get your picture taken with Saint Nick.
When it came time for young Jacques to meet Santa, everything went off without a hitch and the boy smiled wide while his mother dabbed at tears of joy.
They even gave Jacques and seven other autistic children a ride on Santa’s toy train that toured Les Promenades Gatineau Saturday morning for an hour before stores opened for Christmas shopping.
For some of the parents of the children who attended, a regular visit with Santa could have been a prescription for disaster, with any little thing, from noise, crowds and even lighting, setting off the children.
“They can sometimes get overstimulated by the lights. They get scared and anxious. And this time of year, their routines might be off and you don’t know what to expect,” said Jocelyne Sylvestre, executive director of Trait d’Union Outaouais, a community-based agency that has been offering services and support to children and adults with autism spectrum disorder since 1988.
Young Jacques and the other children were so comfortable with meeting Santa under the right conditions that the mall’s marketing director intends to host the children again for their own private meeting well before the doors open for business.