Orange Shirt Day

On the afternoon of Saturday Sept 28, the day before Orange Shirt Day (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) my family (me, my husband, my son, and my baby girl) went to the Human Rights Museum at the Forks in Winnipeg. This was the first time that my children went to the museum. We went to see an exhibit that was about music (Beyond the Beat:: Music for Resistance and Change) and to see the other galleries as well. Since Orange Shirt Day was taking place a few days later we wore orange shirts to show our support for all the families, children, and Indigenous communities affected by the trauma of colonization and the residential school system.

The day before our trip to the Forks as a family, my 5-year old son with autism went to a school assembly and a community walk for Orange Shirt Day. He wore an Orange Shirt that day and the classroom teacher read books leading up to the day to educate the children about the significance of Orange Shirt Day on Sept 30. I would also talk to my son about why he was learning an orange shirt to school and why he did not have school on Sept 30. Since my son has trouble communicating his thoughts and ideas, I was not sure if he understood what he was learning about at school or at home about Sept 30. To my surprise, on the day we went to the Human Rights Museum and went to the gift shop, in front they had a display of Indigenous books about Orange Shirt Day and my son said "Look mom, its Phyllis, she went to school and they took her shirt away". I said "I wonder what colour shirt they took away". He said Orange. I asked him "How old was Phyllis?" and he said "6 years old". I was taken aback because I did not realize he understood who Phyllis was. I asked him if he read a book at school about her and he said "Yes". I was so proud of him at that moment.

I realized that I should not assume that my son does not understand something simply because at a particular time he is not communicating his ideas. I realized he probably is absorbing quite a bit of information at school and at home about a wide assortment of topics from books, movies, etc. that I have no idea about. Just because he is not communicating back and forth with me about a particular topic or idea, like Orange Shirt Day that he does not understand. It is important to talk and describe events that are happening because he is absorbing what I am saying and he is learning even if I do not think he is listening at a particular moment.