Autism sailing challenge: The adventure begins!

Having worked out a date and time to pick up Lea Ho, the boys newly acquired sailing boat, one important detail had to be worked out. Our car, the one that we rebuilt together as a family (see: our post on this) had no tow bar. We needed to temporarily borrow a car that could do the job. So it was back to Western Motors and James Mc Cormack to see if they could help us out.

Without hesitation James said they would. Wow, he exclaimed, there is just no stopping you guys. And what did you say? The boys will be taking on Ireland’s leading sailors in a world first?! Just make sure to take care of your insurance and we will do the rest. So the following day Elaine Hoade, head of marketing sent us on the details of the car we would be using. It was a powerful Volkswagen, absolutely pristine and with the most incredible cameras. More about these in a later post.

So we arrived at the appointed time to meet with Elaine and pick up the car. We were also leaving our car with Noel, head of service, for some final servicing ahead of completing its NCT. But when we arrived Eoin started worrying. This only got worse when we entered into Elaine’s office. And I just knew I had to say something. What’s the matter Eoin?

I’m afraid we will not get our car back he said. I have worked so hard on it, I don’t want it to go!

Elaine jumped in immediately and in her soft Donegal accent said: Now don’t you worry yourself Eoin, we are going to take very good care of your car. And I will make sure of that personally. When you come back I will be waiting here for you with your car. Now is that OK? Eoin smiled and said that would be fine. So while I parked our car outside the service department, Elaine took Eoin by the hand with Conor to the Volkswagen.

And when I arrived back, Eoin was ensconced inside the car with Conor. Looking at all the seats, screens and gadgets the boys were lost in the magic of this new experience. For those who know, being a special needs parent can be stressful even at the best of times. I remember the decision process Val and I would go through about when and where we would take the boys as children and how we would manage the unexpected. And here we were with Elaine and without blinking she just took care of everything.

This returns me back to the theme of all these posts and why are taking on this challenge with the boys. Autism can be very isolating. It removes whole families from the most important factor that makes us human and able to grow. It is community and it is through community that all things become possible. As Hillary Clinton once said to me, “It takes a village to raise a child”, never a truer word.

And I’m delighted to say to the some 100,000 families in Ireland who share our unique term ‘special’ that community is alive and well at Western Motors Volkswagen. As you can see above, Elaine handed the keys to Eoin and his broad smile says so much.

And so our journey continues to the next stage: to pick up the boat! More to follow!