AN SNP MP yesterday joked he could “cheerfully strangle” the Fat Controller from Thomas the Tank Engine as he told of life with his autistic daughter.
Mike Weir told a House of Commons debate of his fears for his daughter’s future as he explained the reality of caring for a child with the condition. The Angus MP encouraged more public awareness of the condition and said he worries about what will happen when he is no longer around to care for his daughter, who is in her 20s and loves cartoons.
Weir said: “Our daughter was and still is fascinated by Disney cartoons. When she was younger her favourite was Cinderella, and especially the mice that were her friends – Jaq, Gus and Suzy.
“She had soft toys from the Disney store and she carried them everywhere. We took her on holiday to Disneyland Paris. On the first day there Cinderella was out and about and we took her to meet her and her friends.
“But of course the mice she met weren’t the small characters she expected – they were bigger than her and she simply could not cope with that. It was not what she expected.
“Like other families, we spent the rest of the holiday checking where the characters would be on each and every other day – they to go and meet them, us to discover ways and routes to avoid meeting them.”
Weir added: “She still loves her cartoons and, indeed, Thomas the Tank Engine – which she watches on video so she can pause, rewind and watch repeatedly small sections that particularly appeal to her.
“Frankly, after 20 years of this, I could cheerfully strangle the Fat Controller. But I also live in fear of the day in which the video machine finally gives up the ghost since they’re not easy to get hold of these days.”
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