HALIFAX - The public transit authority in Halifax admits a driver could have done a better job dealing with a disruptive autistic boy on a city bus, but a spokeswoman for Metro Transit denied reports Thursday that the eight-year-old was kicked off the vehicle.
While the boy's father is demanding a public apology and better training for the region's bus drivers, Metro Transit said the incident is still under investigation.
David Croft said his son, Izaak, was one of about 15 autistic children taking part in a day camp field trip when the boy boarded a bus Wednesday in downtown Halifax.
He said Izaak, who he described as classically autistic with no ability to speak, is sometimes over-stimulated by loud noises, large groups of people and, in particular, certain smells.
"He doesn't have language, so when he's expressing frustration, it tends to come out as screams," Croft said in an interview. "(And) you wouldn't have much control over the smells you're encountering on a bus."
During the bus ride, Izaak started screaming and camp counsellors tried to calm him. But the driver told them Izaak's shouting was making it difficult for him to drive, Croft said.
When the counsellors explained they needed some time to settle Izaak, the driver was not moved, said Croft, who learned about what happened through the counsellors' accounts.
"The bus driver said, `No, you have to get off the bus now,"' the father of two said.
Izaak left the bus with his counsellor and the camp's director, according to Metro Transit. The other children and counsellors stepped off a few stops later when they realized they didn't have the keys to the camp at a local church.
At that point, the driver refused to hand out transfers to the group, "just to rub salt in the wound," Croft said.
He said the driver had to be aware of the kind of children he was dealing with because all of them were wearing bright red T-shirts with "Autism Summer Camp" written on the front and back in big, capital letters.
Croft said the transit service needs to do more for those with neurological disorders.
"It's easy to modify our behaviour for physical disabilities. It's more difficult for neurological disabilities ... but it's something that, as a society, we really have to start doing," he said.
"In the same way that they had to train drivers to attach wheelchairs to the bus when they introduced that system, they need to start training bus drivers to respond appropriately to autism and other neurological disorders."
Autism, which is also known as autism spectrum disorder, is a neurological disorder that results in unusual patterns of behaviour, difficulties with communication and social interaction.
The Autism Society of Canada says the complex disorder affects at least one in every 200 Canadian children and the number of reported cases has risen by 150 per cent in the past six years.
Metro Transit's Lori Patterson conceded the driver could have done things differently, but she did not elaborate.
"The operator possibly didn't handle it very smoothly," she said. "This was a fairly disruptive situation with the child. ... It obviously didn't unfold very well if they're complaining."
The spokeswoman said images recorded by a surveillance camera aboard the bus indicate the driver told a counsellor that he couldn't keep driving unless Izaak's "piercing" outbursts stopped.
The spokeswoman quoted the driver as saying, "I can't drive if that keeps up."
"He said he was concerned that he couldn't continue to drive the bus because it was distracting."
Patterson said the driver did not ask to have the boy removed, and it appeared Izaak and his counsellor left the bus voluntarily.
The other counsellors and children were denied transfers because the group was apparently riding for free, a common courtesy the transit service extends to groups on special outings, Patterson said.
"You have to have paid to get a transfer," she said. "They didn't need a transfer ... because they didn't have tickets to begin with."
All Metro Transit drivers take courses that deal with customer relations, but Patterson said it wasn't clear to her whether they deal specifically with passengers facing mental challenges.
Croft said the driver in this case should have given the counsellors more time to comfort Izaak.
A Metro Transit supervisor later called him to make arrangements for Izaak to be granted special access to a bus for the physically disabled.
He said the supervisor was "appropriately horrified" by what happened and Metro Transit appeared to be taking his complaint seriously.
Still, Croft admitted that, on occasion, he's had a tough time driving his own vehicle with Izaak screaming in the back.
"It's not an easy task sometimes," he said, adding that his other son, Gabriel, 11, is also autistic. "I understand that. What I don't understand is the reaction (on the bus)."
He said he's had to voluntarily remove Izaak from public transit before, but he was never asked to do so.
Croft said Metro Transit has done a stellar job in the past dealing with his sons, and he recalled how Gabriel, who has an obsession with buses, was once given a special tour of the transit authority's facilities and offered a special bus ride.
"This is not a problem that is endemic throughout Metro Transit. It's specific to isolated drivers. It's clearly education that they need to provide to their drivers."
