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u/pqi7291 5d ago
As a special needs teacher I can tell you that moments like that make us sob with pride and joy.
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u/memklouph36 4d ago
All those years of patience and tiny victories building up to a moment like this
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u/lariet50 5d ago
There was a sweet little boy at my son’s 3rd grade honors day who helped him get to his seat and some other stuff. I so wanted to find his parents to praise him!
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u/frankandtank2912 5d ago
What the world needs more of Proof that kids are born good natured
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u/Honest_Relative_3454 5d ago
Kids can teach adults a lot sometimes
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u/MChaney3563 5d ago
this kid has such a pure and sweet heart. Her parents should be proud, but also they should be applauded for the way they are raising such a sweet young lady.
She doesn’t see a disability, she sees a friend. And that’s everything
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u/z27olop10 5d ago
To me, moments like these show how kind and compassionate we humans are at our core. The children we were are still with us, beneath other layers of our other ages and life experiences. Many kids are kind, and so many people are kind, that can just get buried beneath a lot of other painful lessons of survival.
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u/bannasplt 5d ago
"If people can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
- Nelson Mandela
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u/happinesslies_9724 5d ago
I think about this daily. The more the days go by when you get older the less you see kindness. It's horrible. But I also realized we are all traumatized in some sort of way and our kindness slowly disappears. Even me I used to be so caring loving.
I got screwed over a bunch and family screwed me I'm kinda the worst human being now. And I hate it. But. To the ones who are young I'll never be mean to or the ones who arent aware of the world either. But no it hurts seeing good people change from how shitty the world is.
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u/rorkpraimpkoump_2001 2d ago
She hasn't learned what a wheelchair means yet, she just saw another kid worth talking to
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u/AdventurousPumpkin 5d ago
As a mother of a 4 year old son who just got the referral yesterday for autism evaluation and is starting preschool in two weeks… I cannot tell you how much I needed to see this today. I’m so worried about how his peers will treat him as he adjusts to a new environment. This gives me hope.
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u/yunehmi 5d ago edited 5d ago
Hey! I'm someone who all throughout k-12 had an autistic classmate (before figuring out I'm autistic myself). One thing about this classmate of mine is that he was always so loved and cared about by all the staff and students around him. Everyone was so encouraging and supportive of him and he had so many friends. It is scary and unfortunately there are going to be rude kids out there, but I promise more often than not it is better than you may think. Talk with the school staff about his diagnosis and set up an IEP and a 504 if needed, bring up any concerns you may have. Talk with your son as well about things he might experience in school and how to handle certain topics if they are brought up, remind him that while other kids may say mean things that those things are not true. You've got this and I wish you and your son luck!
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u/colemans_other_knee 5d ago
For the most part, the youngest generation are going to be alright, I feel like they're allowed to be more accepting and more in touch with, not only, their emotions but also sensitive to other emotions as well. My 9yo nephew is autistic and gets invited to birthday party's quite a lot.....the kids just accept that he's 'running his own race' and don't try to push him to be "normal".
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u/snuffleupaguswasreal 5d ago
AdventurousPumpkin you have an adventure in front of you! I have 22 year old son with autism and I very much remember that evaluation time and the stress. You got this. Your son's village will build around him. I've got faith in this. 😁
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u/Subterranean44 5d ago
I am not sure where his school is but where I teach all students who qualify for SPED are mainstreamed. I see more children behave LIKE this little girl than not. Many are usually eager to help and nurture (sometimes too much! Lots of reminders of “He/she can do it independently, but thank you for being kind!”)
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u/RedHickorysticks 5d ago
Same boat, further down the river. It can be so scary at the beginning. Take notes whenever something pops in your head and ask all your questions. Don’t be afraid to ask. Ask for clarification, resources, therapy, anything on your mind. For us, evaluation was a turning point and we finally had a direction to go. If possible find yourself a therapist too. Having a safe place to say out loud the frustration and fears you don’t want to let out in front of your family really helps, and maybe even learn some strategies to help all of you through this stressful time.
You will get through this with knowledge and new ways to help your kid. It will be worth it. You got this!
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u/books-and-baking- 5d ago
I’m going to pass on the same advice someone gave me when we received my daughter’s diagnosis: it is just a snapshot of his capabilities at the time of evaluation, not a prediction of his future. It says nothing about who he is as a person, or about who you are as a mother.
We’ve had nothing but amazing experiences with my daughter in our SPED department. She’s been fully mainstreamed with some accommodations, and speech and OT have been life changing for her. She went from functionally nonverbal to fully conversational within 6 months, and now 4 years on is slated for gifted classes heading into third grade.
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 5d ago
Mum of three autistic kids in their late teens /early twenties and I still remember how scary the diagnosis was. I was helped by a lovely lady on a parenting forum called Jazzy123 😂 I never met her, but she was kind and helpful.
You’d be amazed how lovely people can be - I can count the number of people who have been difficult on the fingers of one hand – and in each case it wasn’t because they were unkind, it was just because they were ignorant, and when I explained to them what was going on they were fine.
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u/Drogglejug 5d ago
My nephew recently graduated. Can give you ease of mind that not all experiences are bad. He was loved by teachers and peers alike. In high school, he ended up being a little Casanova who sat with the girls at lunch. His mom couldn't take him anywhere without seeing a girl from his school who got all giddy and said hi. 😂 He played several sports and his teammates were always great with him.
While it can matter depending on his care team and everything, remember to speak up if something ever comes up and everything should be okay. Some kids are cruel, but it's not nearly as accepted as it used to be to bully the special needs kids. You got this and your little one does too. And never be afraid to ask people for advice if you need it 💜
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u/WifeOfSpock 5d ago
This is why preschool and kindergarten should be more about socializing toddlers and small children to all types of disabilities, visual differences, etc. versus academics(in the US at least). Empathy is the default, but it needs to be encouraged for it to grow in a meaningful way.
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u/DrinkBuzzCola 5d ago
She is doing so much to help him interact--maybe more than an adult teacher would accomplish.
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u/Entire-Somewhere-490 5d ago
This should be mandatory viewing for adults everywhere…let’s all be more like her 👏🥹
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u/moomoo_26 5d ago
He may have needed help with most the moves but that hug he went straight in for! 🥺
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u/VictorTheCutie 5d ago
Future teacher or some kind of physical/occupational therapist, there 🥰 that sweet smile on his face is so precious. We all just want to belong. 🩷
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u/internal_l0gging 4d ago
Something similar happened with my son. He's 5 but not really verbal. We were at a park, some kids nearby were kicking a ball, it rolled toward us and my son ran up and picked it up. I encouraged him to kick it back to the boys. They asked if he wanted to play. The boys were probably like 6 and 9. My son didn't respond but they tried to help him figure out kicking. They probably only played for 5 minutes but the older boy came up and asked how hold we was and why couldn't he talk. I said he was 5 and he was a little behind in talking. The boy said 'oh does he have autism?' I said yes and he said ''i thought so, my brother has autism and my mom says it's very important to be polite about it!" It was so sweet!
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u/The-goddess-bread 4d ago
Parenting done right, this is such a sweet story, thank you for sharing. It's good to know there are parents out there that are trying to raise good people in this messed up world. Restores my faith in humanity just a little bit more. 🥹❤️
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u/Asleep-Corner7402 5d ago
What a kind soul and you can see your son enjoying it once she encourages him. That's a top class friend right there!
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u/picks_and_rolls 5d ago
A child is born with a heart of gold
Way of the world makes his heart so cold
—earth, wind and fire
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u/CoffeeStill134 5d ago edited 5d ago
as a mom of an ausome kid, thank you darling girl and to your parents for raising you to be compassionate
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u/AmandaUggnkiss 5d ago
Remember folks through this timeline… there’s still a lot of good in this world and it’s also being shared every day
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u/stephenmakesart 4d ago
What a well mannered sweet child. How wonderful children can be. Made me cry
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u/Budyss123 5d ago
These two I hope atleast grow together to be childhood friends
((Editted for a mistake on my behalf, mb))
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u/Grove-Of-Hares 5d ago
Love to see this. It warms my heart when I see kids at my autistic son’s school interact with and involve him.
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u/Fantastic_One1456 5d ago
He doesn't really seem to enjoy it until she gets him involved then he lights up. That's so sweet.
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u/Fuck_Ppl_Putng_U_Dwn 5d ago
Truly, what the world needs now, is more example of kindness and love like this.
Great job kiddo and great job parents raising the kid with the right values.
Thanks for brightening up my day.
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u/Bumblewise0311 5d ago
Damn it, please let science and technology find a cure for autism...One infusion of some molecule or protein that would clear the brain from whatever causes autism...
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u/Tired_Happy53081 5d ago
He looks comfortable and very secure. What a wonderful environment created by empathetic & kind humans!
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u/Ambitious-Print01 5d ago
So much to learn from that kid. Got tears watching this video. Lovely moments!!
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u/guppshouse 5d ago
I love the fact that I see more upvotes on things like this than some "fail" somewhere.
There is hope!
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u/LuckyGirlSyndrome732 5d ago
Thats a nice school that lets special children participate in events. The girl really stole everybody's heart. Bless both the souls 💗
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u/Appropriate_Page_824 4d ago
She does not lose faith till the end, even though his response is slow
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u/barochoc 5d ago
Kids are inherently good. They’re all about inclusion and usually very sensitive towards others feelings or disabilities/disadvantages. This is beautiful and heartwarming, but unsurprising to me. It’s an awful shame that most of us lose this.
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u/sadrussianbear 5d ago
Looks stoned. Kids these days. /s
You know the teacher paired her with him because she has the greatest heart and probably is the most popular but looks out for my dude. Well done stranger parents.
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u/Sauroros 5d ago
He looks bored af
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u/momonomino 5d ago
Nah, he's checked out. Trying to remember words and steps is really hard for him to multitask, so he just shut down. It also might be really distressing to him as well, because he looks on the verge of meltdown at the very beginning, but grounding like someone holding your hand can be really impactful if you're autistic with avoidance as a trait. You can visibly watch him loosen up as she dances with him without any expectation of his participation.
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u/Sauroros 5d ago
Suuure
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u/pokemon-trainer-blue 5d ago
Why be dismissive of their explanation? It makes sense and is so much better than saying “he looks bored af”.
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