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Kids with autism to narrate NYC subway announcements
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Apr 10, 2023
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Stephen Nessen
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Stephen Nessen
Published Apr 10, 2023
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The MTA will play announcements read by children with autism at subway stations across the city for the rest of the month as part of a campaign that celebrates the youngsters' deep affinity for mass transit.
The public service messages will be played at 11 stations, including major hubs like Times Square, and advise riders to avoid littering or holding open train doors. It’s the second consecutive year they’re being rolled out as part of an MTA effort to highlight Autism Acceptance Month.
The kids who recorded the announcements gathered at Fulton Transit Center in Lower Manhattan on Monday to hear their voices on loudspeakers. The group sat on a blanket as they listened, with many wearing T-shirts that had logos of their favorite train lines.
Thomas Wiggin, 8, from Inwood, said it was “really embarrassing” to hear his own voice, but noted he was “pretty happy” his announcement might play in the subways, especially his favorite lines, the 4, 5, 6.
Wiggin’s mother Maggie said programs like this one are not only great for her son, but also the public.
“It's about recognizing kids and adults whose brains work in all different ways and that they all have so much to offer and that we can just love them for who they are,” she said. “The MTA would not be running right now if it weren't for autistic people. They are in every part of our lives. We just don't necessarily know it all the time.”
Benjamin Ruiz, 6, booed when he heard his own announcement. Like Wiggin, he said he didn’t like to hear his own voice — but described a deep love for the subways and said he appreciated his announcement’s message about not holding open subway car doors.
“I’d like to be famous, but I don’t want my voice to be famous,” Ruiz said.
Jonathan Trichter, founder of several special needs schools in the area including Hubbard Day in Connecticut, said he approached the MTA about launching the program last year after he saw how many kids with autism connected with New York’s transit system.
“It's a phenomenon frontline transit workers are very aware of, they see it when these kids approach them and ask them complex questions or drag their families on joy rides,” Trichter said. “And oftentimes these kids will have language based learning differences so that they start to grab onto language wherever they can and some of the first sentences they will ever utter, oftentimes will be a public service announcements from a train. [It’s] not uncommon for the first sentence a child with autism in New York City will say, is ‘Stand clear of the closing doors, please.’”
Trichter said the program has caught on with transit agencies and that he’s brought it to other transit systems in San Francisco, Washington D.C., Atlanta and New Jersey.
Tagged
new york city
manhattan
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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