KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Instagram post from March praised a Kansas City restaurant’s reaction to a mom and her young son. It has thousands of likes and hundreds of shares.
The caption reads in part, “This is what inclusion and acceptance look like. @mannyskc didn’t just accommodate this Autistic child and family… They made them feel wanted."
I talked to the mom, Niki Hartrum, who told me about what happened.
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She said she and her son were visiting Kansas City recently. It had been a big day full of new places.
She said her son had a tough moment when their food came at Manny’s; he cleared the table. It’s what happened after that she wants more people to understand.
While she took her son out of the restaurant, her friend, who was still inside, told her staff jumped in to help, no questions asked. They cleaned up the food, remade the food, wanted to check on the family, invited them to come back in and gave them food to go.
“So there is autism awareness, and then there is autism acceptance. And you’ll hear those two different words,” Hartrum said. “So, I think awareness has to happen, and I think we’re still at that awareness level, but to really be accepting is what that restaurant did.”
She said she was so grateful, she emailed the restaurant. Owner David Lopez called her back.
He told me they had a long conversation where he made sure to tell her they were welcome back at the restaurant any time. Lopez said he also offered them space to dine privately or in their main dining room, whatever made them more comfortable.
Lopez told me how proud he was of his staff that day, including the manager who told him about it.
“And not just letting it happen, right, but actually attacking the situation with love and with friendship and with kindness,” he said, adding that it was a wonderful example of “what we do here.”
Lopez told me he cried when he watched the reel.
“I work with a lot of families who are in the same position I am, and I’m always preaching to them, we still have to be out in the world, like they are still part of our community,” Hartrum said.
I reached out to Children’s Mercy Hospital, which has an autism clinic.
They sent me some resources. One of the first paragraphs mentions autism is considered a “spectrum” because it often looks different for each person.
“The reason we talk about autism as a spectrum is because it really can look different for every child and adult, and even from setting to setting," said Cy Nadler, PhD, director of the clinic and licensed child psychologist. “And kids grow and change over time, too, and so some kids will have more trouble in public environments that are noisy and bright and chaotic and different from their routines. Other kids may thrive there. And so, it’s really about making sure that every kid or individual has the support they need to be successful."
Children’s Mercy has many available resources, including information for families who may have a child with a recent diagnosis.
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