Told at the last minute

I just got back from the movie theater where our family was going to enjoy a sensory friendly viewing of the smurfs movie. We have been promising our son that we will be going to see the smurfs on Saturday May 6, 2017. For all of you parents who have a kid diagnosed on the spectrum, you know just how it is important for us to let our kids know of any events days, even weeks in advance.

So we showed up at the theater around 10 am this morning and tried to open the doors, they were locked. So we decided to wait. Then an employee came to the door and asked what we were doing here, we kindly told her that we are here for the sensory friendly viewing. She then proceeded in telling us that it was cancelled because they did not receive the smurfs movie at all.

Our son’s face went from excitement to disappointment and anger. He was so looking forward to this viewing, he talked about it all week. As an advocate for autism awareness, I decided to write an email to cineplex odeon to express my disappointment.

Here it is:

To whom it may concern,
Thank you!,

Thank you for letting us know that the sensory friendly viewing was cancelled at the movie theater door. We told our son all week that we would be going to see the smurfs movie this Saturday, only to be told, by one of your employees, at the door, that the viewing was cancelled because they have not received the movie for the sensory friendly viewing.

As a parent who has a son diagnosed on the spectrum of autism, I do not think that you are aware just how important it is for us to know about cancellations days, even weeks in advance. This cancellation, changed the whole day for us as we have to deal with our sons disappointment AND his anger towards us because we promised him a viewing of the Smurfs movie on Saturday May 6th.

To add salt to the wound, your employee told us that the movie was being shown in Dieppe. This is just an idea but maybe sit all of your employees down and explain to them the reason of the sensory friendly viewing. I do not think they get exactly why we have to lower the volume OR leave the lights on.

I myself am an advocate for autism awareness, if you need someone to come and explain to them what autism is about, I will gladly do a presentation and show them  just how complex autism is.

I really love the fact that we have sensory friendly viewings available in our area but please take the time to consider the ramification of a last minute decision. I know a lot of parents in the Moncton area who are now dealing with a very difficult situation in their hands because of this cancellation.

I have checked on Facebook to see if there was any notifications but came with nothing. This is unacceptable, please take the required measures to remedy to this situation.

Thank you

Patrick Hardy
Father, author, illustrator and advocate of autism awareness.

I hope that this email will be considered and read by the powers that be at Cineplex and that they will take the measures to remedy the situation.

Another great example of the why my books are important.  It did, however, inspire me for the subject of the 5th book now.

Let’s bring more awareness out there.

**UPDATE** Cineplex responds

On may 6 at 5:26pm EDT I got a reply email from cineplex:

Hello Patrick,

Thank you for contacting Cineplex Guest Services.

I am very sorry to hear about this experience. We have been notified by the theatre of this cancellation, and it turns out the theatre had been trying to receive a certain file of the film to show the sensory friendly screening but unfortunately did not receive it in time. As a result, they had no choice but to cancel the show. Management did advise us they updated their showtimes on the website on Thursday night to reflect this change. 

I will definitely forward your feedback regarding this experience to our Cineplex Trinity Drive location for their internal review and consideration to help ensure that something like this does not occur again in future. Additionally, I would be happy to offer you three (3) Courtesy passes so that you can come back for another movie at Cineplex on us. At your earliest convenience, please provide me with your full mailing address so that I can have these passes mailed out to you. Once again we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Kind regards, 

French tour

On April 18th, after 5 pm, I left Moncton heading towards Bathurst for the french portion of my autism awareness tour. I was invited by the CFCAA / CAAFC to come and discuss the book with children in school from the ages of kindergarden to grade 3 and have a conference at night for anyone who would love to hear he story.

Once again everything went well. I was amazed at how the kids would be so interested in what I had to say and how curious they were about autism. During all presentations in school, I was presenting the fact that yes, children diagnosed on the spectrum of autism are different, but we are different as well. They experience life in a different way that we do and yet we all have different experiences in our life that make us look at life a different way.

Drawing to emphasize on differences.

I also asked the kids to complete a drawing, kind of like what I did with my son Sam. I asked them to complete the drawing on the right. (Fig. 1) I gave them 5 minutes to complete it. After the five minutes was up, I asked them to bring me all the drawings and told them that I would be able to find two drawings that are the same.

Needless to say that I didn’t. The kids loved this part. I, then, asked why I couldn’t find any two drawings that were the same, then the kids would answer that they were unique, different, original.

After we were done, I gave them another drawing to complete at home (Fig. 2), which I will complete as well and send via email to the schools I visited so that they can see what I have drawn.

Wednesday, April 19th, 2017

Cité de l’amitié (Bathurst)

I had a great time presenting in this school. They have put me in a room where there was a projector and The classes would come in to see me. I saw two classes at a time per groups. Had 3 sessions in this school. The kids were curious, the staff was very helpful and I just loved watching the kids being excited to complete a drawing just like my son did.

I enjoyed Cité de l’amitié, it is a great school.

 

Interview at CKLE

At noon, I had an interview at the local radio station. Sandra Landry welcomed me and Karen Chamberlain from the CFCAA / CAAFC to discuss about the conference that was going to be held at the NBCC that same day. Here is the link to it (It is in french):

Conference at NBCC

The conference was awesome, there were a lot of parents present. Everyone was listening with interest. I broke in tears a few times but they were tears of love and compassion as the subject, Autism, is a real close thing to my heart. After the conference, people stayed to talk and ask question. I sold books, art pieces and made very good connections with the people that were there.

 

Thursday, April 20th, 2017

Séjour Jeunesse (Green Point)

This small school is very dear to me. In my presentation, I believe that I had almost all the students that were attending the school. I have been made aware that this school was closing next year. Nevertheless, all the kids were really excited and interested in what I had to say.

The kids were so excited to complete the drawing, all of the completed drawings were so original and different. I had a blast presenting to them.

 

 

Le Tournesol (Petit-Rocher)

This school kept me busy for the rest of the day. I had 5 presentations to do in this school. They have placed me in a room were art supplies could be found on all the walls and shelves. So I took a crayons bin and asked the kids to complete the drawing while using these crayons.

Throughout the day, I have seen a lot of questions, excited aspiring artists and some kids on the spectrum as well. This school had the most presentation quota for the whole trip, what a great location and school. Right by the ocean.

 

Friday, April 21st, 2017

La croisée (Robertville)

This school really had a great venue for the presentation. They have put me in the auditorium. Even though there was a scheduling conflict, I still had 2 great presentations where the kids were interested and excited to hear about autism.

Again, great drawings were created during those two sessions. Very excited to send my compositions to that school when I am done creating them.

 

 

FX Daigle (Allardville)

The last school of the tour. They have put me in the school library. I was a little stressed at first as I was probably going to have to present without a powerpoint projector etc.. But in the end, everything worked fine.

The kids were interested and involved in the conversation. Met great people and great kids. I had to hand out the drawing to these kids as they didn’t have anything to draw with. But I did manage to get the message across to them.

 

All in all, it was a great experience. I enjoyed presenting the books in class and doing the conferences. It really motivated me to do a lot more in more school districts. I am already starting to get good feedback from the teachers that were present. All of them are positive, so far.

 

I had the privilege to be invited by the CFCAA/CAAFC in Bathurst to present the books in the English schools in the Bathurst area last week. My host, Karen Chamberlain, did everything to make my trip as enjoyable as it could be.

I visited three schools and met with 7 classes. I also held a conference in the CCNB Bathurst on Thursday evening and I participated in the official autism awareness month activities launch at the Bathurst Library.

What a privilege it was to meet all those curious children and talk about autism. I showed them that everyone sees the world differently by asking them to complete a drawing of a head of a pig. I got a lot of great results, each drawings different from each other.

Janeville Elementary School

On Thursday morning, I started at Janeville Elementary School where the kids were very receptive and so interested in what I had to say. There was a boy named Brody who was diagnosed with autism in the group who told me that when he was younger he could not speak and that by praying to God everyday, God healed him and allowed him to talk.

It was a small group, 18 kids, but they were all so attentive and interested that the hour went fast. It was such a nice little school and I cannot wait to see them again.

Parkwood Heights Elementary School

Then, at 11:00, I went to Parkwood Heights Elementary School. Where I was meeting with 2 classes. The first group was grade kindergarten and the second, after lunch, as in grade 1. Again, very interesting dynamics. The kids were so attentive and absolutely love their time with me. I even got a couple of hugs from some children. A lot of questions were asked, lots of smiling faces.

Had such a good time in that school. that in one session, I did not see the time fly. The teacher told me that the time was up.

 

Smurfit-Stone Public Library

I then went to Bathurst’s Public Library to participate in the official launch of the autism awareness month activities. I read both books to a child that was present at the time and he absolutely loved them.

There wasn’t a lot of people present but seeing the smile on that child’s face was more than enough for me.

 

Conference at the CCNB

This was such an exciting time, I got to share the story of our son with people who were interested in discovering what autism was about. The people that were there told me that they were so happy to hear our story and some bought some books.

The art was laid out there as well so that people were able to see what was done to raise autism awareness.

Terry Fox Elementary School

The next day, I got the privilege to meet with four classes in the same school in which I had the smallest and biggest classes. I started with a kindergarten class first thing in the morning. they were so excited to draw their images and learn about autism. In the second group, two classes merged together (36 kids), there was a lot of questions and even a kid asked me if autism was real and just not something I made up.

When he said that, a child with autism was sitting right behind him. This shows just how the books are important.

In the afternoon, I met with two more classes, again a lot of smiling faces and questions.

 

All in all, I loved my trip. Looking forward to the french conference and schools that I will visit on April 19 to 21st, 2017.

A big thank you to Karen Chamberlain, from CFCAA/CAAFC for inviting me over to Bathurst and hold these sessions and the conference.