Being a parent of a child on the autism spectrum can be a difficult task, but it can also be a task that brings blessings and fulfillment. And sometimes it can also become an opportunity to help someone you never would have noticed before.
Recently, a man named Bob Lee and his wife were teaching their teenage son, who is on the autism spectrum, how to ride the bus on his own. They waited patiently at the bus stop for bus 183. However, their son got confused and boarded bus 188 in the opposite direction of his destination before they could stop him.
Bob chased after the bus on his bicycle while his wife returned to get their car. She eventually caught up with the bus and told the driver she was looking for her son. However, the driver said her son had gotten off at another stop: “The boy who talks to himself? He alighted at the polyclinic.”
Meanwhile, unable to find his way home, the teenage boy wandered around near the bus stop mumbling “Mummy, mummy, where’s my mummy?” until the right person noticed his strange behavior.
The right person was Dhiya Liyana, who is the mother of an autistic son. She immediately recognized that the boy was in need of assistance and offered to help. She took him to the police station so that they could work on finding his parents.
While this was happening, Bob took a cab to the bus stop his wife told him but could not find his son anywhere. While he was asking people if they’d seen the boy, however, he caught the attention of Aidil Ismail, the husband of Dhiya, who had recently learned about his wife’s encounter with a young man with autism.
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“My wife brought him to (the) police station,” Aidil told Bob after confirming that they were both talking about the same boy. “Don’t worry, my son’s also ASD; we will help you.”
And, of course, the rest is history. Bob and his wife were able to pick their son up at the police station and were happily reunited again. The family is incredibly thankful for the help of Aidil and Dhiya.
“I’m so grateful that (my son) has met a kind Samaritan,” wrote Bob on Facebook.
Dhiya also wrote on Facebook, “We are glad to help you. I was crossing the 4 tier junction, and I noticed he was looking around for ‘Mummy, mummy, where’s my mummy?’ I followed him from behind first. I was working nearby in a school. I knew he was in distress. He was so good in calming himself by asking me to count backward with him! Brave boy. He held my hand all of the time and played with my hair. I tried my best to reassure him everything is ok!”
We’re so glad the boy Dhiya helped is back with his family, safe and sound. Thank goodness there are still good people in this world who are willing to go out of their way to help someone else!
Source: The Autism Site Blog
