Poster boy Cameron's VIP invite
Published 17 Jun 2012 08:00
A ROUTINE trip to the supermarket ended with a birthday treat one autistic youngster will never forget.
Cameron Page, who is obsessed with all things advertising - particularly the posters spread across buses, billboards and bus shelters - was in his element as guest of honour at JCDecaux's headquarters in London.
The visit on Wednesday last week came after mum Michele spotted some JCDecaux vans outside Tesco Extra in Napier Road and explained to the occupants her son's passion for their work. By chance, one of them was regional sales manager, James Thomas, and her approach brought the invite for the excited 12-year-old.
Cameron, from Emmer Green, was shown how the adverts are printed, rolled up and prepared for delivery before helping to change a poster on a rotating billboards. The Brookfields School pupil, who was given four full-size adverts to take home, said: "It was the best day ever."
He rated his trip 10 out of 10, and added: "It was really good fun. They are very clever and very high-tech. They told me how they use the old posters to make the bases of traffic cones and glue made from potatoes."
Michele, who runs the Reading Autism Families Together support group, explained how autistic children can develop interests very different from the average youngster and said finding ways to tap into them is key to helping such children learn and develop.
She said Cameron asks her so many questions about adverts that she is unable to answer and added she did not want to miss the opportunity when she saw the vans.
She added: "It was fantastic, they absolutely went beyond what was required to make his day special. They gave him a cake and remote control Lamborghini and made him feel very important. They came up trumps.
"He did not stop asking questions and was visibly excited. Maybe it is an industry he could go into later in life. They said to me they had never seen anyone so enthusiastic about adverts."
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