The next time he had a brush with the law was a couple of years later when he was out with his one of his carers from an agency. They were all wonderful and we couldn’t have managed without them. They would take John out to have a trip on the ferry or over to Liverpool for a couple of hours three times a week, this gave his dad and I a much needed break and some time for eachother. However John could be temperamental in his younger days and if things didn’t go his way he would lash out. Anyway apparently he spotted a bus that he often went on but this time the bus was going straight back to the depot. The the carer tried to explain to John that he couldn’t go on the bus. To John this didn’t make sense, the bus was there with ‘The man’ sat behind the wheel as normal, so why couldn’t he get on? He was allowed on every other time so why not now? All perfectly logical to John, all very difficult to explain for the carer. John became more and more wound up and as they crossed the road John suddenly lashed out and hit her. Fortunately there was a police car parked across the road and what they saw was a big lad hitting a girl so they ran accross the road to break up what they assumed was a domestic incident.
The first we knew about it was when a police car pulled up in the drive with all the lights going but no sirens. John was in the back being entertained by one of the policemen and having a fantastic time. They explained what had happened, assuring us that as soon as they got to John and the carer they realised he had special needs. They had been fantastic, made sure she was ok before allowing her to drive herself home and then they drove John home the long way round via New Brighton, because they could tell how much he was loving being in the police car and they wanted him to have a bit of fun to make up for his disappointment over the bus. They had demonstrated an amazing insight into Johns needs and I can never thank them enough. They even agreed to the flashing lights once or twice.
We were so grateful for their kindness and for the way they dealt with the situation, it could have been so much worse. John was calm, happy and clearly felt safe in their company. The two officers made sure we were ok too as it had been a bit of a shock. Of the many things John’s dad and I worried about what we might face as John got older, our boy being brought home in a police car wasn’t one of them!
Once the officers established that we were all ok they both gave John a big hug and jumped back into the car. We waved them off from the end of the drive with John jumping up and down and letting everyone know in a very loud voice, that his Nana was a liar. As the car sped away the blue lights flashed for one last time and the neighbours curtains twitched violently as they wondered what on earth had been going on in ‘The mad house’ this time.
Julie Ellsmoor – Julie writes the blog Close Encounters of the Autistic Kind about life with her adult son, John, who has autism. Her blog states; ‘these are my scribblings of the madness and mayhem that my bright, funny and mischievous son and I encounter, on his weekends home.’ You can also follow Julie on Facebook and Twitter @JulieEllsmoor