Natalie Fernando was walking her five-year-old son Rudy who has autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
She shared on the Facebook page “Better to Be Different,” that her son likes to walk a certain way but his favorite walks with boats makes that a little difficult. She wrote, “My son loves to walk, but he hates to turn around and walk back, we usually try to walk in a circuit to avoid this but on his favorite walk with the boats we have no choice but to turn back.”
This caused Rudy to lay down on the ground and throw a meltdown. Fernando was apologizing to anyone passing for his loud noises, yet she was still receiving judgemental stares. That was until one man named Ian, who was walking the same seafront with a two-year-old in a stroller came by. He saw Rudy on the ground, so Ian laid on the ground with him and started a conversation with him.
That moment was enough to make Rudy calm down from his meltdown. Shortly after Rudy was back on his feet and ready to go home. Ian and his 2-year-old walked with Fernando and Rudy back to their car to continue keeping him calm. Fernando added on her Facebook Post, “I am so thankful to this chap Ian, I will not forget his kindness. In a world where you can be anything be kind.”
