Don’t judge if Lyon, 8, has a ‘meltdown’... he’s autistic
LYON’S STORY
Zennya said: “He suffers really badly with sensory issues. Zennya Dolman “When he was younger, it took me and my mum to wash his hair together because he couldn’t stand the water on his head.
“Swimming classes were also hard because he wanted to go in the older group but he hated the water going over his head. So the tutor told us to put him in the shower to get him used to it.
“But having the water go over his head like that would have been intolerable for him. It could frighten him to death.”
The sensory overloads are not the only symptoms of Lyon’s complex condition, because he also struggles with his social skills.
Zennya said: “He’ll go up to a group of 15-year-olds and put his arm round them and laugh with them while they’re in mid-conversation.
“Obviously, they don’t want him there but he doesn’t understand the social situation.”
Zennya said Lyon also has a great amount of difficulty sleeping and that her lack of sleep from looking after him during the night has made her physically sick in the past.
She said: “Clothing wise, Lyon will only wear tracksuit bottoms and, until this year, he had to wear them for school as he’d be screaming in pain.
“When he’s feeling particularly sensory he has to be naked in his room or he can’t cope.”
Zennya said her son’s autism also renders him incapable of eating certain foods.
She said: “Lyon, like many other autistic children, would only eat an extremely limited variety of food due to the sensory issues.
“At one point every day he would have to have chips and nuggets.
“People say they would not offer anything else other than their normal dinner, and if it wasn’t eaten then they could be hungry. But they don’t realise he’d possibly starve first.
“An educational psychologist once explained it to me that ‘it’s as bizarre to a child with autism being asked to eat an unsafe food as it is if someone asked us to eat a chair leg.’”
Zennya said these problems are only made worse by a general lack of understanding about Lyon’s condition among the public.
She said: “The number of comments people make is disgusting.
“He’s there having a meltdown, lying on the floor, and people are watching and making comments.
“I hate to say it but, before I had Lyon, I probably would have thought, ‘Oh, that kid’s just naughty’ too. We need more awareness, and it needs to start from the bottom up.
“The number of young people seeking help with mental health problems has rocketed
“At schools, they tend to not make it obvious about disabilities, but Lyon has always known about his autism and he will tell people, ‘I have autism and I find it hard.’
“At school once he was in the dinner hall. It was very noisy and he covered