Mum of child with autism speaks out to thank stranger who helped her during 'meltdown' in Milton Keynes

The mum of a little boy with autism has spoken out to show how much difference an understanding attitude from strangers can make to her and her son's lives.

She described how she took the non-verbal autistic seven-year-old to a family fun day event in Bletchley on Sunday.

But the fun trip turned into a nightmare when there turned out to be long queues for every activity.

"My son being non verbal autistic struggles to cope in busy environments and loud music and queues are extremely hard for him to cope with," she said on the popular local Facebook Page called Mum to Mum - Milton Keynes and Beyond.

She added: "We're normally very prepared for things like this but if you were there, I feel you’ll understand that I couldn’t have been prepared for how big those queues were."

The little boy did his best to wait in the queue but after a few minutes ran to the front and got "really overwhelmed", she said.

Learning to wait is a crucial life skill that can prove extremely difficult, or often impossible, for people with autism.

The mum said: "It resulted in him having a massive meltdown, hurting himself and getting extremely upset.

"I was doing my best to calm him down but could feel everyone surrounding taking a peek..." can also get a little overwhelmed when I have many eyes watching me trying to calm my son down. Even though people mean no harm, it can be very daunting."

While she was frantically trying to soothe her son and ignore the stares, a man at the front of the queue with his children came to the rescue.

"He caught eye contact with me and asked if my son would like to go in front. I said yes, and instantly sighed with relief," she said.

The Good Samaritan's children questioned why he let the boy go ahead of them, and he was "so good explaining it," said the mum, who wanted to publicly thank the stranger.

"I don’t know if this man is already understanding of special needs or just a good human. But I didn’t even need to mention autism," she said.

"Little gestures like this every now and again stick with me they make my day... Some days meltdowns result me to tears, but not today...today was a good day."