‘Touch a Truck’ unites thousands in support of Autism Awareness Month

This past Saturday, the Fort Worth Fire Department (FWFD) hosted its Second Annual Sensory Friendly “Touch a Truck” event at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex. Held in support of Autism Awareness Month, the free event allows families to interact with a variety of vehicles in a calm, sensory-friendly environment.

The event sold out in just 36 hours, filling over 1,300 spots. Organizers broke it out into two sessions to control the size of the crowd and help ensure it remained as sensory-friendly as possible. Multiple vendors, therapy centers and other resources were also on hand for participants to engage with and explore.

Neurodivergent children may require more time to regulate themselves during an emergency, so to help familiarize them with the equipment, uniforms, lights, sounds and personnel on scene, FWFD gave them an interactive experience with first responder vehicles. This year also included construction vehicles, tow trucks, cranes, military vehicles, boats, farming equipment, garbage trucks and even Amazon trucks.

Kids were also given a chance to meet some superheroes and pet adorable farm animals at the petting zoo.

FWFD was joined by the Fort Worth Police Department, CareFlite, Fort Worth ISD, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, City of Fort Worth, Army Corps of Engineers, Tarrant County 911, Kubota, Bobcat, Republic Services, Fort Worth’s Finest Moving, Texas Towing and the NAS-JRB, who brought a bunch of vehicles, uniformed personnel, robots and boats.

“The idea is that if a child has seen a vehicle in a toy box, their favorite book or show, they will come to the event and see that vehicle in real life,” said Fort Worth Fire Department Public Information Officer Craig Trojacek. “It started out small and grew exponentially as more partners wanted to join together for this incredible event. This is a great experience for the kids and for their parents and caregivers to have a safe environment set up especially for children to play and learn.”

Photos: Children and families become familiar with the equipment, uniforms, lights, sounds and personnel associated with first responders.

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