Given that his current contract at Boundary Park expires this summer, he is concerned about where he will play next season.
Those football-related matters will be settled, one way or another.
However, the father, Dan Gardner, has a persistent parental concern.
“My spouse Tennille began recognising symptoms when my son Bailey was four or five months old. These included his feeding, sleeping, flapping, and eye contact. He was demonstrating everything associated with autism,” he clarified.
Like many others at the time, we knew nothing about autism. There wasn’t much awareness at the time. Things are starting to improve now.
“However, my spouse handled it really well. As children cannot be diagnosed until they turn two, we began the process early with the first doctor we saw and proceeded through all the necessary steps to receive the diagnosis.
“But this conflict is huge. Tennille persisted in fighting even after receiving an autism diagnosis, and as a result, we were able to achieve our desired objective and provide him with the necessary care.
“when a result of his severe autism, Bailey attends a special school, which is wonderful for him. However, next term, we’re excited to see him go to a new school when he turns nine in July.
“With Bailey, we simply accept each day as it comes; he’s a wonderful little guy. He brings us happiness and is a joy to be around.”
For Gardner and his family, every day is Autism Acceptance Day. However, this week and this weekend have extra significance as the 34-year-old former Chesterfield and Wigan player, who celebrates his birthday on Friday, works with his Latics teammates and manager Micky Mellon to raise awareness and acceptance of autism during Autism Acceptance Week (2-8 April).
“More information is getting out there and helping people know what it’s about, and this is a big week for raising awareness,” Gardner stated.
With Bailey, it plays a huge role in my life. Additionally, since Micky Mellon works a lot with kids who have ADHD and autism, I’ve talked to him about it.
It’s helpful to have someone to talk to and to know that he’s involved in such things.
“We’ve got a banner made for the Rochdale game on Saturday that we’ll have our picture taken with and display it before the game.”
Although Gardner would hope that Bailey can participate in some capacity, his kid needs to be closely monitored in the football setting.
“It’s great when he comes to games but it’s a bit too loud for him and there are too many people,” he said.
“My daughter Myla attends every home game, and the O2 suite that the club has set up for families to use on matchdays has been fantastic. She’s four years old and quite smart with Bailey. My partner’s excellent communication skills with them are the reason she is so empathetic even at such a young age.
“But Bailey can’t really handle it at games so he’ll come for maybe 10 minutes and then he’ll have to leave, so grandparents play a massive part in helping us.”
Gardner claims that football is his personal haven.
“It’s something that can take my mind off being a 24-hour carer at home and just go out and be free and not worry about it too much when I’m at football,” he stated.
“I always look forward to seeing Bailey and Myla at home, especially after a difficult day.
Bailey has amazing maths and alphabet skills. He’s moved on to numbers now, though he could still handle the Russian, Spanish, and a few other alphabets.
Like other autistic children, he is completely focused on a single task once he settles on it, especially when it comes to routine and such.”
For me, it’s been a steep learning curve. With the exception of when I’m on the pitch and I vent all of my anger, I’d say it’s helped me relax much more.”
