April is National Autism Month, a perfect time to recognize some Watco Team members who made a difference for a young man with autism.
Michael Blodgett, who started high school in Idaho last fall, had been struggling with the change.
“Starting high school is always difficult for any child,” said his mom, Laura Blodgett, “but it was especially so for him.”
Michael, 14, has autism and suffers from a high level of anxiety.
“It’s hard because he struggles with social skills and has a hard time making friends,” his mom said. “There was some bullying going on.”
His school year got a bit brighter when members of the Watco Team on the Eastern Idaho Railroad in Twin Falls, Idaho, went out of their way to fulfill Michael’s dream.
With nearly 359 track miles, the EIRR began in November of 1993. Serving the agriculturally diverse areas of Idaho Falls and Snake River, the EIRR prides itself on providing fast and efficient service to all Customers, regardless of size.
This year, Team members added a child to that list.
“I just mentioned to a co-worker that Michael really loves trains,” said Blodgett, who joined Watco a little over a year ago in the purchasing department of Eastern Idaho RailRoad at Twin Falls.
Michael has always been a train buff, she explained. When he was young, he enjoyed Thomas the Train. As he became older, his love of trains continued.
“If we have to stop and wait for a train, he actually gets excited,” his mom said. “He wants them to last longer!”
Blodgett’s co-worker passed that information along, and it made it up the chain of command to Trainmaster Rocky Mancias, who took it upon himself to coordinate a train ride for Michael.
“I was very surprised and excited,” Blodgett said. “I didn’t know if it was something that would interrupt their work — it is a business — and that they were going to the effort to do something that it is special to him means a lot.”
Mancias said the experience was awesome for the team involved, too.
“Michael was super excited when we told him he would be going on the train for a ride,” Mancias said. “The moment when he turned to his mother and gave her the biggest hug was priceless.”
The engineer was Shawn Coates, and the conductor was Jessica Nielson, both of whom volunteered to stay after their shift, Mancias said, to make Michael’s dream a reality. They gave him stickers, t-shirt, whistle, baseball hat, reflective gloves, and a reflective vest — a vest his mom says he was still wearing hours later.
Said Blodgett: “When I got home from work that day, he came out and met me outside and said ‘Mom, see I’m still wearing my gear. That’s how special this was to me.’
“The team at the EIRR was so awesome and really went out of their way to make him feel special,” she said. “As a parent, I can’t tell you just how much that meant to me. Michael was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.”
#