THE mother of a severely autistic boy has praised a “little act of kindness” from a warm-hearted supermarket worker.

Catherine Newell, from Hove, said she regularly faces abuse and a lack of understanding from members of the public over her son Axel’s behaviour.

However, a kind café worker at Waitrose in Nevill Road, Hove, went out of her way to help.

Heloise Crafer made a special drink for the boy, who has food intolerances and is not allowed milk or soya.

Heloise tried out several different products from the supermarket aisles to create the perfect frothy beverage for Axel, testing different concoctions to see which made the best foam.

Axel, 12, is so severely autistic he has to live in a care home away from his mother most of the week and is unable to talk to explain his anxieties.

When he was recently diagnosed with food intolerances his trips to his favourite café became extremely difficult.

He was not allowed anything on the menu and Catherine said the sudden ban on his favourite frothy milk was hard for him to understand. Catherine, 48, said: “Axel is a child with very severe autism and we often get really nasty comments from people. The public can be really intolerant.

“One time a man walked up to us and said ‘disgusting’ to us. By the time I had fully taken in what he said he had gone so I couldn’t give him a piece of my mind.

“My son is very noisy and does disturb people but I was so touched by Heloise’s little act of human kindness.

“I want to show the nice things people can do. These little things can make our lives so much nicer. People like Heloise should be celebrated.

“I thank Heloise, Waitrose and anyone who makes a little effort to do something nice for someone else.”

Heloise Crafer told The Argus: “We are delighted we were able to help Axel and his mum.”

Catherine, 47, runs a Facebook page dedicated to sharing her experiences of her son’s autism – her post about Heloise has received hundreds of likes.

To visit her page, go to facebook.com/CatherineNewellAndAutism