The City of Fredericton will no longer be putting up signs to warn drivers about areas where vulnerable children may be living.
Council passed a resolution on Monday night to stop placing the signs after April 16, 2018, and to remove any signs that are no longer necessary, ones that include “Autistic Child Area” or those warning drivers of children who are hearing-impaired.
Autism Connections Fredericton executive director Rick Hutchins said he thinks the signs are important to families of children with autism.
“I don’t know if they work, but I do think they are very important to the community that we represent and the autism community to be able to identify that there is an autistic child in the neighbourhood, for example, because a lot of them could be runners,” Hutchins said.
“That part I support because I think individual families are the ones that are requesting that to ensure that there’s an additional level of safety for their children in the area.”
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City documents indicate the signs can be confusing to drivers as they don’t provide any direction on how to proceed through the area. There are also no national standards that show the signs provide any additional safety to children, and according to the city, other jurisdictions don’t usually have these types of signs.
The documents say Riverview, N.B., recently took down their signs, and also said the signs may have negative consequences such as identifying the location of vulnerable children.
Five of the city’s eight signs have been removed from the municipality. The resolution states that signs will be removed from the remaining locations once the children living in the area reach the age of majority, or if the families move — whichever happens first.
Hutchins said children who are on the autism spectrum can often have sensory issues or could be scared by loud sounds that send them running.
“I use the same example — there’s a reason why there are speed bumps, and that’s because they want the drivers to slow down, so sometimes these signs can play the same role,” he said.
“I mean, if you see a sign that says ‘Autistic Child in the Neighbourhood,’ hopefully you’ll be responsible enough to slow down or think about slowing down to ensure that you’re driving to a speed that you can stop easily if somebody did run out in the road.”
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New Brunswick Association for Community Living executive director Danny Soucy said he understands the importance of the signs, but said there are other signs that could be better and won’t single out any specific group of people with a disability.
“I think we see the reasoning behind them that you as a parent, you want to make sure that your children are always safe and if a sign is going to make sure that the traffic is slower or people are more cautious on your street, that’s a good thing, but does it have to be a sign that labels a child?” Soucy said.
He said signs that are more generalized would better.
“Having a sign of ‘Children at Play’ talks about every child on the street. Having a child with a specific disability here — not everyone takes it in the same way the parent did,” Soucy said.
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