LAST WEEK, NEW Jersey dad Bob Cornelius went to a parent-teacher night at his son Christopher’s school.
Christopher, who is on the autistic spectrum, had to fill out a worksheet with some facts about his life, from his favourite food to what he wants to be when he grows up.
While reading it over later, Bob noted one heartbreaking ‘fact’: Beside the ‘Some of my friends’ prompt, Christopher had written “No one.”
In an emotional post on Facebook, Bob spoke about his struggles with parenting a child with special needs, and how sad he was to see what Christopher had written:
As far as I know (save for one time), Christopher’s classmates have never been overtly cruel to him. What they have done, however, is to exclude him…
Until Thursday, I didn’t know how aware he was of this divide, as he does not often talk about his peers. Never have five letters cut so deep, and they weren’t even directed at me.
“It’s clear to me that Christopher wants to be part of the group, but his challenges make it difficult for his peers to include him,” he continued, and asked parents to speak with their kids about including special needs children.
The only solution I can come up with is to share this with you and ask that you have a conversation with your kids. Please tell them that children with special needs understand far more than we give them credit for. Trust me when I tell you this hurts them.
Bob and Christopher’s story has been shared over 27,000 times since it was posted last week, and parents are thanking him for raising awareness of this particular problem.
It’s all good for Christopher too, as he has since received dozens of cards and presents from new friends.
Lovely.
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