By Victoria Stone-Meadows
A young boy in Cranbourne has found an unlikely source of comfort in dealing with his fear of motorbikes.
Three-year-old Tre Stubbs was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was two years old, after his mother Rachel Bond sought medical opinions from two paediatricians.
Because of his disorder, Tre has a terrible fear of things he doesn’t understand; especially if they are loud and cause him to experience a sensory overload.
Tre would experience this terrible overstimulation that manifests as crying, hyperventilating, anger and fear up to 13 times a day.
Ms Bond said her son wouldn’t be able to join in activities with other children or enjoy just being a kid because of the severity of his meltdowns.
“We have to watch him all the time in case he becomes distressed,” she said.
“He comes running to the door like a hurricane and I have to calm him using techniques Yooralla taught me like deep compression massages, sign language and other simple things.”
“It’s awful; he can’t communicate with us when he is like that.”
One of Tre’s triggers was motorbikes. He has never experienced any trauma relating to a motorbike, but their loud noises and fast movement used to cause him a lot of anguish.
“When we moved in here there were four motorbikes in the court,” Ms Bond said.
“He used to just freak out and as soon as they started he would be screaming and carrying on and it could take 10 or 20 minutes to calm him down.”
However, Ms Bond and her 10-year-old daughter Riah have found relief and help for Tre in the form of veteran postie Darren Amos.
Mr Amos has been working as a postal delivery rider for 20 years and through his kind nature and friendly demeanour has helped Tre overcome his fear of motorbikes.
He says it all started in about September 2016 when he would bring the mail for Ms Bond up to the house as there was a little boy looking at him through the security door.
“Every day on my round this little boy would be there and he would start talking to me through the front door,” he said.
“In the end we’ve got him to come down to the letterbox and now he waits for me there every day.”
Now when Mr Amos and his postie bike turn the corner into the court, Tre waits for him by the letterbox to have a chat, a high-five and to collect the mail.
Ms Bond said Mr Amos had been a wonderful to help in getting her son to overcome his fear of motorbikes.
“Tre has changed,” she said.
“Darren stops to say hello even on rainy days because his job doesn’t stop. If it breaks up the day, even for five minutes, and stops Tre having a meltdown, then it’s great.”
“I was in tears when I said to Darren, ‘I don’t think you quite understand; you wake up every day and do your job but to us you are so important.’”
Mr Amos said in all his years delivering the mail to all kinds of people, Tre stood out as a person and he looked forward to seeing him.
“Four days out of five they are home and I ride safely into the court,” he said.
“I turn the corner and I hope he’s there today to have a chat and a high-five, give him the mail and he runs off to mum.”
Mr Amos said as much as he had helped Tre, Tre had helped him as well.
“He brightens my day as well and I look forward to coming out on the round and delivering the mail, then at the end of the round there is a little boy waiting for you, it’s really nice.”
Since getting to know Mr Amos, Tre is no longer triggered by the loud noises of motorbikes.
“I can’t believe one person has made such an impact,” Ms Bond said.
“Even the sound of a bike on the main road, something that would have terrified him a few months ago, is not an issue anymore because he associates the sound with Darren.”
Ms Bond even took the time to write a letter to Mr Amos’s boss to let him know what a great impact he has had on their lives.
However, Mr Amos remained humble about his role in helping Tre.
“It’s a lovely letter, but it’s really not about me, it’s about Tre,” he said.
“I do this every day and he happens to be a very special little boy.”
“Tre is always there and takes the mail, which is so much nicer than dropping it off in the mail box, and gives me something very special to look forward to when I leave the DC.”
