The mother of an autistic man shared the ups and downs as single parent of a neurodiverse child after her son’s biggest dream was fulfilled by kind Buckinghamshire firefighters.

The emotional birthday last week for Robin, Mia Bradley’s 33-yer-old son, was all thanks to the incredible firefighters at Chesham Fire Station.  

Diagnosed when he was two-and-a-half years old, Robin, the eldest of three siblings, has severe form of autism, and he is almost completely non-verbal.

Mother Mia, 58, said: “Honestly, and I’m getting emotional now, they were amazing.

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“Because being an autism mum, you get a lot of crap, and this was just so kind,”

“Robin’s phrase is “fire station open day, please”, because he’s got good manners.”

The firefighters went “over and above” as they greeted Robin at the door, asked if they could shake his, if they could take his coat, got him dressed up in the kit, let him sit in the truck and use the hose in the car park, Mia described the touching birthday she shared online on OurChesham group.

“Robin’s a big Firefighter Sam fan, and he watches a lot of telly, that’s his thing, and YouTube, a lot of fire truck videos.

“It really is a dream come true for him to be able to be in a fire station.

“When they come around the corner with the cake that just did me, that was just beautiful,” she said.

The pair had been up since sunrise for Robin’s special birthday, because Robin doesn’t sleep very much, the tired and emotional mother said.

“It’s not easy.

“There was no awareness of autism in those days. I was in my late 20s.

“My second son was six weeks old, when Robin was diagnosed, there was a lot going on.

“I looked young for my years, and people would judge me as an irresponsible young mother with a naughty child.

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“I had graffiti on my front door, my car has been scratched, some really nasty things.”

When people were stranded in their homes during the Covid lockdown, Mia was already familiar with routine of isolation after years of being either trapped at home or having to meticulously plan every trip outside. 

“Even going to the park. And there’s a reason I’ve got a chip on my shoulder. I’ve had some awful things said to me.

“On one of Robin’s birthdays, a woman walked past and said ‘ever heard of birth control’.”

Comments like these from strangers were devastating, the ex-nurse said.

“To be judged like that because Robin was behaving in an inappropriate manner.

“But oh my God, if you try and put your head in an autistic person’s brain, life is so complicated, it’s so hard and scary.”

Now Robin lives in a “fabulous” care home near Colchester in Essex, where the family used to live. Using a tick chart, Robin counts days until each monthly visit to Chesham.

“Autism awareness is a big deal, but it wasn’t in my day. I’m hoping it’s better.

Some incidents with Robin in public left her feeling embarrassed and judged.

“You didn’t have the internet in my time, you had to go to the supermarket.

“It was a rollercoaster.

“I had no life, and I was a single parent after their dad left.”

Her life is now much more positive, but back in the day she couldn’t have even had a phone call without something happening.

Now she pleads with everyone for greater understanding and kindness.  

“People can be really kind, when they understand.”