• Gus Blatchford in action at the Fremantle Skate Plaza. Photo by Steve Grant

“IT was never my dream to spend most afternoons on the sidelines of a skatepark!”

Lexie Bennett, mother to five-year-old Gus, who has autism, has been overwhelmed with the kindness, patience, and encouragement she’s found at Fremantle skateparks.

“We gave Gus a balance bike at two-years-old, and he just took to it,” she tells the Herald.

“Kids with autism tend to have a central focus and Gus’s is BMX-riding, and you can see he really blossoms in this environment.”

Ms Bennett says Gus lacks spacial awareness and initially she was constantly ready to apologise for him getting in the way of other skaters, but she soon discovered a tolerance she wasn’t expecting.

“It’s so easy to see the negative side to our youth, but their accepting attitudes have made this all quite a heartening experience.”

Ms Bennett recalls a time when Gus and his little brother Raffy were at the North Freo skatepark which was being used by three older and experienced skaters.

She felt guilty he was interrupting the older boys but, not long after, Gus took a shining to one who patiently taught him a few moves.

The skater explained to Ms Bennett he had a friend his own age with autism.

“This really touched me, because I often wonder what Gus will be like when he’s older with friends,” Ms Bennett says.

While the Herald interviews his mum, Gus’s bike falls from one of the ledges and several skaters stop to help him out. A young boy carries the bike to the sidelines where a parent tries to fix it.

Ms Bennett says, “I used to run frantically onto the park to help him in these incidents, but now after many delightful experiences I am confident that the other kids will look out for him.”

As Gus patiently waits for his bike to be fixed, he watches the action from the side, jumping up and down in excitement. Eager to get back out there, he can’t wait for the bike and grabs his skateboard to hit the ramp.

by ALANA CHRISTIAN