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Mum's emotional open letter to trolls after backlash over Kmart hack

Tayla Hutchinson and son western
Tayla Hutchinson has hit out at trolls who slammed her hack to help son Western. Photo: Instagram/taylahutchinson

A mum who faced brutal backlash after sharing a Kmart hack she uses for her autistic son has written an emotional open letter to the trolls begging people to “be kind”.

Tayla Hutchinson took to Facebook earlier this month to share a nifty little idea she came up with, which involved using an $8 Kmart tripod to help keep her two-year-old son Western occupied during shopping trips.

Western is non-verbal and being assessed for autism, a journey that the 21-year-old mum talks openly about on her Instagram page.

But while many appreciated her idea, she received a barrage of cruel comments, slamming her for ‘forcing’ her son to watch YouTube videos, even going so far as to say he would lose his eyesight.

She responded to the critics in an open letter she posted on her Instagram on Friday.

“I’m not going to speak much on this matter as I know my truths and I know that I am a good mum who is genuinely just trying to do her best, but why do people feel the need to judge?” she wrote.

“You don’t have to love how I parent Western, or what I do to get through the day. What isn’t okay is telling me I’m a bad parent or I’m ruining my child because he watches less then 2 hours of YouTube a day.”

Tayla clarified further - even though she had already explained her reasoning in the original post - that they use the phone because Western sometimes becomes unsettled and unpredictable in crowded or loud situations, like a trip to the shops.

“Be kind to one another, I beg of you,” she concluded.

Tayla originally shared her idea to the Kmart Mums Australia Facebook page, and it quickly went viral.

“Not sure if this has been shared or not but $8 from Kmart and I made our own phone holder for my son’s pram,” she wrote.

“If you’re like me and have a child on the spectrum or one that just doesn’t settle when shopping and YouTube/your phone is the only thing that helps then this can be so handy.”

Kmart hack tripod for phone in pram
Tayla shared her idea to Facebook. Photo: Facebook/Kmart Mums Australia

As some negative comments started flooding in she also added an edit.

“I understand that people don’t like their kids having technology that’s fine, I’m not forcing it down your throat, this is just what works for us and I wanted to share for others in the same boat,” she said.

However trolling in the comments got so bad that admins stepped in and ended up turning off commenting for the post.

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