To the editor:

I am the proud mother of a 4-year-old boy with a playful smile and eyelashes to die for. He looks like any other child except that he is not; he has autism. People with autism have challenges that can be difficult for the rest of us to understand. They can find something very distressing that you or I would not, and this can result in behavior that can be inconvenient, annoying or just uncomfortable for others around.

Recently my son and I were shopping when my son threw himself on the floor and began crying. A man came up to me and told me that my son was “obnoxious.” It is very sad to me that my son had to hear that. Imagine someone going up to someone with another disability and insulting them. We try to inconvenience people as little as possible and he is already unable to participate in so much of the world.

So please, if you see a little boy with long eyelashes and a frazzled-looking mother, cut us a bit of slack. After all, we need to use the world too sometimes.

Maria Brockman, Lawrence