Fridays are what my three-year-old grandson calls his "big day with Granna". Last Friday was very hot and, instead of going to the local swimming pool (our default activity), we went to the beach – grandson, Gramps, Mr absent (who drove), and me. It was delightful.
Grandson and I were standing in the shallows, holding hands jumping over the waves as the tide came in, falling over and laughing, when a boy who had been splashing at the edge of the ocean, watched by his daddy, walked over, took my hand and started jumping too. He was quite a bit bigger than my grandson and wearing a nappy, but I wasn't sure whether perhaps there were"issues" or he was just one of those kids who grows very tall and everyone thinks that they are much older than they really are. Dad came over and took him back to where he had been playing, jumping and clapping his hands before.
Not long later, he came over and threw his arms around me. Dad seemed pretty horrified, dislodged the little boy and apologised profusely. I didn't have a problem and told him so. A little while later Mum approached me and apologised again, telling me that her son was autistic.
It was clear to me that the little boy was different, but he was gentle, delightful, friendly, charming and wanted to play with us. I had absolutely no problem at all, except I was very surprised that he seemed attracted to a (or two) strangers. Maybe my grandson reminded him of a friend maybe I reminded him of a trusted adult, even his own grandmother, or maybe, at that moment, he just wanted to hold hands and jump about in the ocean.
I feel so distressed about these parents who feel that they had to apologise for their son. I tried to make it clear that I wasn't at all disturbed and thought he was a delight, but they both backed off so quickly after making their apologies that they may not have even have heard me. For the record, my grandson was quite happy to welcome someone else holding my spare hand and play the jumping and swinging game with him.
!!
