We're not trying to make things difficult for others, says mum of autistic boy who didn't wear mask on bus

Caring for loved ones with special needs isn't an easy task. 

And one frustrated mother recently took to Facebook to voice her grievances after a bus driver refused to allow her family onboard — all because her 12-year-old autistic son was not wearing a mask. 

The woman, who goes by the username Chacco TIm, said she boarded bus number 76 near Ang Mo Kio central at about 7.40pm last Saturday (Jan 7) with her son and her husband. 

Upon boarding, she explained to the bus driver that her son was autistic and is exempted from wearing a mask on public transport. She said she also showed her son's special needs card to the driver. 

According to the Ministry of Health's guidelines on masks and personal protective equipment, mask-wearing is only required for persons who are six years old and above at healthcare facilities, residential care homes, and medical and public transport. 

However, medical experts have advised that some groups — including children with special needs —  may have difficulties adhering to this rule, and hence, are granted "flexibility". 

However, the latter allegedly refused to start the bus, and insisted that her son wear a mask. 

"He said he was merely following SOP and could call HQ to check...I told him to make it quick as I did not want to waste the other passengers' time," wrote TIm. 

Speaking to AsiaOne about the incident, Tlm recounted: "I felt pressurised [at that moment] as the other passengers on board the bus were glaring at us. I was also concerned that my son would have a meltdown." 

The 40-year-old administrator added: "My son is rather big sized, and I am unable to handle him by myself when he has a meltdown." 

She added in that Facebook post that "out of 10 buses I took, all the 10 [Bus Captains] allowed us to board the bus", presumably with her son not wearing a mask. 

'My son will have a meltdown'

Amid the kerfuffle, a middle-aged man approached Tlm to offer her son a spare mask but she declined the offer as she had spare masks in her bag. 

"My son will have a meltdown if I force the mask on him," she explained in her post.  

As the bus driver's call took "too long", TIm said she felt she had no choice but to alight from the bus and wait for the next one.

She said that she had also tried calling SBS transit for assistance, but to no avail. She added that her sister ended up leaving a voice message to SBS Transit's call centre. 

The family eventually boarded another bus without much fuss, said Tlm.

She told AsiaOne that the next bus driver didn't question why her son wasn't wearing a mask when she showed him his special needs card.

"We are not trying to make things difficult for people, but [we're] just disappointed that public awareness of special needs [individuals] is so bad. It is not easy to be a caregiver of someone with special needs." 

Tlm also shared that she has tried to teach her son to wear a mask since the start of the pandemic, but he has been unable to get used to doing so. 

"To be born with special needs is not something that any of us want, thus we will not use this as an entitlement to not follow the rules," she told AsiaOne. 

The woman added that she would lodge a complaint against the bus driver. 

Netizens sympathised with Tlm's plight, chiming in that more needs to be done to raise awareness about individuals with special needs. 

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In response to AsiaOne's queries, SBS Transit said that they are "sorry for the distress and inconvenience" caused to TIm's family. 

The company said that based on guidelines, the bus driver should have "exercised flexibility in this situation and reported it to our Operations Control Centre (OCC)". 

"As mask wearing is mandatory on public transport, our Bus Captain wanted to be sure and sought clarification from our OCC before he continued on the journey," said Grace Wu, Vice President (Special Grade) of SBS Transit's Customer Experience and Communications. 

"We will remind our Bus Captain on the guidelines so that he can better manage such situations in the future."

ALSO READ: 'Foreign rubbish': Bus driver and passenger allegedly yell at woman and nephew after boy removes mask

claudiatan@asiaone.com

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