At William’s Grandma’s house 11:30 AM
Annually we met at my Mom’s house for Xmas party, where all my sisters and brothers brought their families and gifts to. As usual, we would have 1 designated person to hand out the gifts to every one: he’d pick up 1 present, read the tag and call out the name. The person whose name is called would come up to him and take the gift. Everyone would applaud when the name is called and when the gift was opened.
When William’s name was called, he freaked out and then ran away. Tim ran after him and tried to talk to him so that he’d come and get his present but he refused and ran to where I was sitting. His behaviors got worse when he kicked the gifts and used his hands to push all the gift down.
I recalled he had this same behavior on his Pre-school graduation day at Mitchell school with Mrs. Hana. When Mrs. Hana called his name and people started to clap, he panic and tried to run out of the room, then later rolled on the floor and refused to get up there to get his certification.
I think he does not cope well when there’s attention toward him. It’s not just the crowd, it’s the noise and being on the spot that freaks him out.