Short story on friendship: Dominic’s meltdown

Exposure’s autistic author, Max Ferreira’s tale highlights importance of having a good friend for young people like him

Hello. My name is Edward, and I struggled to be around people my age, let alone have a friend.

Then one day a new face moved next door with his family: a boy called Dominic.

He was a shy and charming newcomer to the neighbourhood. I had the honour to make him feel welcome in the area and school. Once I got to know him, I started to enjoy his company during our lessons and we even occasionally chatted over the garden fence.

Despite Dominic’s unusual behaviour I didn’t care what the other students thought of him. To me he was a really good person.

One cold Monday afternoon, I was walking home from school where I saw Dominic crying as he entered his house, whilst covering his ears and shouting repeatedly, “I hate myself! I hate myself! I hate myself!”

I quickly ran to the house to see if they wanted any help. But the situation was so intense I decided to hold back until he had calmed down. I was really worried. I had never seen Dominic act like that before.

I wanted to say hi but I was afraid of how Dominic would respond

The next day, before going to school, I knocked on the door to ask Dominic’s mum how he was.

“Morning. Is everything alright?” I enquired nervously.

Dominic’s mum replied. “Something happened at school yesterday and Dominic got into a state. But thankfully it wasn’t too serious.” She paused and took a breath.

I saw Dominic sitting alone, browsing through a Richard Scarry picture book. I wanted to say hi but I was afraid of how Dominic would respond, after last night.

“Dominic has autism. It takes a really long time for him to calm down. But don’t worry, Edward. He’ll be ready for school,” his mum assured me.

After saying goodbye, I went to catch the bus to school. “I wonder what she means about Dominic having autism,” I thought, as I boarded.

It was break-time at school and I asked a fellow student, Leo about the word autism.

“Autism is a learning condition that affects some young people’s behaviour. They see the world differently, which makes it hard for Dominic to be around others or do things sometimes without being anxious, even if it’s very minor. For example, in our science lessons the other week, he was acting like his head was about to go pop,” Leo recalled, and I soon remembered.

“Oh, that’s why he didn’t want to watch and hear the video demonstration. But it’s just a cartoon,” I said.

I was ready to build my friendship with Dominic and see how it would go from there

“Yes, but in his head, he disliked it, as it was hard for him to process in the class. Which is why he has a teaching assistant to guide him, and help him adapt and develop new skills and techniques in order not to miss out,” explained Leo. “But it’s not just about knowing the symptoms of someone who is autistic. We should know they are able to do things like the rest of us can. Like my friend, Eric.”

Leo paused for a moment and said, “In fact, when Eric came to my house for a sleep-over, he taught me about being thankful and gave me clever money-saving tips I didn’t know about. It proves that young people shouldn’t let their autism hold them back. They just need guidance in order to overcome any barriers and achieve anything they want.” Leo finished by showing me a photo of both of them smiling, on his phone.

“Oh, I see what you mean,” I said, as the school bell rang. “Thanks for the heads up, Leo. See you later.”

With Leo’s advice ringing in my ears, I was ready to build my friendship with Dominic and see how it would go from there.

Firstly, we started having simple conversations in order to get to know each other better. I could see why Dominic was not very sociable in our year group.

It was touch and go for the next few months, but in time Dominic was able to shine by sharing feelings, interests and ideas with me and other people he trusted. On one occasion he showed some creativity of homemade multi-picture postcards he had made, which impressed our art teacher.

Meeting you is a breath of fresh air

Dominic and I managed to do stuff together, like hanging out at my house after school, and going to places like bowling.

One highlight was inviting Dominic to go on my birthday treat. We went to the theatre to watch a musical of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my mum and dad. At first, I was worried about it being too much for Dominic. Thankfully, he sat through the whole show and really liked it, which made me very happy indeed.

Later that evening, when we were heading home, I asked Dominic, “So, what do you think about our latest adventure?”

“I really enjoyed it, Edward. Thanks for the invite and I’m glad you had a good birthday. I also enjoy your company. I didn’t have anything like that back in my old school. So, moving and meeting you is a breath of fresh air.”

“My pleasure, Dominic. I was also the same when you came to the neighbourhood. I always wanted to have a friend and for us to know each other without overthinking things. I think we make a good duo,” I replied.

Dominic smiled and said, “I agree Edward. Even after me having a meltdown over the score on my mock Maths test that was so unnecessary.”

What he said just took me by surprise. Then Dominic added, “But thanks to you, my mum and my teaching assistant I have learned it’s not the end of the world. Like running late or making silly mistakes, I shouldn’t let small things get into my head. I should move forward without losing confidence.”

“Well, I am glad to hear that,” I said.

It had been a tiring day and I yawned. We were home and I couldn’t wait to go to bed. But I would have happy dreams knowing I’d made such a good friend, where we could share our problems and overcome them together.