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Jae's Construction Stress Late 2037 Event

Jae’s construction-triggered migraine and autistic distress occurred at the Lee family home in late 2037 while contractors expanded the attached suite for Cal and Jess Ross. Cal and Jess were making their second Baltimore visit before the permanent move. Jae remained near the work because he understood that the new room was being built for Cal, but the sustained noise overwhelmed him and developed into a migraine.

Medical Context and Lead-Up

Jae was autistic and lived with migraine, spastic cerebral palsy, POTS, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, gastroparesis, and severe chronic fatigue. Sound could produce intense sensory distress, particularly when exposure continued after his ability to regulate had begun to fail.

The construction followed the Rosses’ first Maryland visit and Joon-Ho’s offer of the attached suite. Cal and Jess returned for a second visit during the late-2037 work, when contractors cut into drywall and expanded the one-bedroom suite so each could have a private room. They subsequently returned to Portland to continue remote medical coordination and complete the preparations for their March 2038 move.

Onset and Recognition

Jae positioned his wheelchair just outside the construction zone with headphones over his ears and his AAC device on his lap. The headphones dulled the hammers and drills but did not block them. Each impact made him flinch; he rocked and hummed while trying to remain beside the work.

Minh told him that he did not have to stay in the hallway. Jae answered through AAC, then speech: “For Caleb.” When Nari offered to take him to the quieter garden, he again chose to stay and communicated, “Stay. For Caleb.” As the noise continued, he cried, pressed himself into Minh, and said, “Cal room. For him.”

Family Response

Joon-Ho joined them and told Jae directly that remaining in pain was not something Cal would want. He explained that the room would still be there the next day and that resting was also a way of caring for his friend. Jae initially resisted because he associated leaving the hallway with abandoning the work being done for Cal.

Joon-Ho offered his arm and guided Jae away from the construction area. Jae accepted the move while still crying and holding his AAC device. Minh and Nari remained part of the support around him.

Migraine and Garden Support

Outside, Jae clung to Joon-Ho on a bench in the garden. He tapped his temple, said, “Head… bad,” and confirmed that the escalating pain had become a migraine. Joon-Ho held him, slowed his own breathing for Jae to follow, and repeated that Jae was safe and that he would not leave.

Jae’s crying gradually softened into ragged whimpers while the migraine continued. Joon-Ho reminded him that Cal’s room could wait and that his son came first. Jae remained supported against his father in the garden while the migraine continued.

Immediate and Long-Term Consequences

The construction continued after the acute episode and was complete before Cal and Jess’s early-March 2038 arrival. The finished suite gave Cal his own bedroom while preserving a separate room for Jess.

Jae’s decision to remain near the noise came from his attachment to Cal and the meaning of the room being prepared for him. The response from Minh, Nari, and Joon-Ho respected why the work mattered to him while helping him leave an environment that had become physically intolerable.

Events Medical Events 2037 Minjae Lee Baltimore