Students wear blue to support child with autism turned away from school dance #spd

Max, a 14 year old student, was very excited about going to the school dance. He had on black sweatpants, a gray, long sleeve T-shirt and a zip-up hoodie. When he got to the dance he was stopped at the door. He had to call home to tell his parents he couldn’t wear what he had on.

Max Bedard was turned away from a semi-formal dance at Pelham Memorial Middle School on Friday because he was dressed ‘inappropriately,’ his mother told FOX25 News. Max is autistic and has a sensory processing disorder.
~ Kerry Kavanaugh

An autistic child’s classmates are showing him their support.

Max being turned away from a semi-formal dance dressed like he was brought the whole community together. He’s very social and he loves people so this was very upsetting to him. Max’s mother said everyone has been wearing blue and sharing the hashtag #MaxItMonday. The superintendent said in a letter to the community that the young man was never “sent home” but instead sent to the office by other staff members to make a phone call to have the parents bring alternative clothing to better meet the dress code.

Key Takeaways:

1
An autistic student was turn away from a school dance due to his awkward choice of attire.
2
The school did not realize that his presentation may have been due to his autism.
3
The students dressed in blue to support their classmate.