My name is Candice Osborne and my son’s name is Dre Osborne. Dre is 7 years old and he has lower functional Autism, OCD and ADHD. Dre is non-verbal and is unable to communicate or learn.
On this day, February 2, 2015 my son and I walked into Pick ‘n Pay, Comaro crossing, Johannesburg South.
On our way out while paying, my son had unintentionally rubbed off a little bit of their Lotto numbers from their white board with a small piece of plastic.
A lady by the name of Monica then approached me with a very stern voice and demanded me to stop him from doing so. I then explained to her that he is Autistic and he does not understand, she then raised her voice and said that I am telling you as his parent to stop him.
I then raised my voice and said to her are you joking he is Autistic and he does not understand. She then raised her voice again and said “I DO NOT CARE AS YOU ARE THE PARENT AND HE IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY NOW STOP HIM”.
By now the manager had come to see what is happening and offered me a bunch of flowers. I said to her that I have been shopping at to this store for more than 17 years now. I do not want a bunch of flowers. I want an apology from her.
Then Monica said she would not do so. By now my temper was at boiling point.
1 in every 52 children born today is diagnosed with Autism and I believed at this point in time that I could not let this go. Not just for my Son but for all the Autistic Children out there that suffer with just every day to day happenings. So I decided to contact the SAPS even so with the SAPS present and her managers asking her to apologize she still refused to.
Now I am going to take this further and I will be labeling Pick ‘n Pay as a non-friendly special needs store. I do not believe that PICK ‘N PAY CARES about special needs children and am totally disgusted in what has happened today.
By Candice Osborne
South Africa Today – Community contribution
