Jason was a 10 yr old non verbal autistic boy with other disabilities .When he was born his father was in the picture.When it became apparent of Jason's on going disabilities the father stopped being involved. Jason liked to run when he was outside in the fenced in back yard. His mother said ,he runs in circles the whole time he is outside. However if you go and grab his hand he stops running(but ...first you have to catch him).If he is sitting in a chair he continuously rocks back and forth. If he is standing in the house he twirls around for hours on end. It was difficult to get him to go to sleep. Or to stay still for any length of time. One day when Jason was outside in the yard running a parade went by .His mother noticed that Jason stopped running and watched the fire truck in the parade go down the street. Jason was smiling ear to ear when he watched the fire truck. This was the first time his mother ever noticed an emotion from him.The mom thought wow my son is interested in that fire truck. So she came up with an idea. She thought if she could get him a couple of toy fire trucks maybe he would be easier to handle . We were contacted by Jason's mother.So we put the word out we needed anything to do with fire trucks .As soon as our volunteer Debbie heard about Jason she went out and bought some fire trucks and even a fire truck sheet. Before you knew it we had a total of 6 fire trucks. Some even had the sirens and horns on them. And we had a whole bed set of pillow cases and sheets. Because Jason lived out of state we mailed the items and hoped we would hear something from the mother later.
Something amazing happened when the package arrived. Jason sat down on the floor and started to play with the fire trucks. His mother wrote he was more than happy to lay in the bed on his fire truck sheets with all the fire trucks around him in the bed. Jason was finally interested in something. Of course he pushed the siren and horn buttons a lot and would make a shrilling sound when he heard the noise. Jason even clapped which was a first for him. When Jason's mother told us how wonderful he was doing.I wrote to their local fire company about the little boy .We learned later Jason had been invited to the fire company to see the fire trucks up close and personal. Jason walked(not ran)around each truck petting and touching them. It was the calmest day Jason's mom had ever had she wrote since his birth .It is our hope that Jason will continue to flourish in learning with the help of the fire trucks. Who would of ever thought that one parade could of made such an impact on this little boys life.
And to be honest we still think of Jason everytime we hear the sirens or horn blast on the fire trucks in Whiting where we live.So if you think one donation or act of kindness cant make a difference think again.Here is living proof it can.
Something amazing happened when the package arrived. Jason sat down on the floor and started to play with the fire trucks. His mother wrote he was more than happy to lay in the bed on his fire truck sheets with all the fire trucks around him in the bed. Jason was finally interested in something. Of course he pushed the siren and horn buttons a lot and would make a shrilling sound when he heard the noise. Jason even clapped which was a first for him. When Jason's mother told us how wonderful he was doing.I wrote to their local fire company about the little boy .We learned later Jason had been invited to the fire company to see the fire trucks up close and personal. Jason walked(not ran)around each truck petting and touching them. It was the calmest day Jason's mom had ever had she wrote since his birth .It is our hope that Jason will continue to flourish in learning with the help of the fire trucks. Who would of ever thought that one parade could of made such an impact on this little boys life.
And to be honest we still think of Jason everytime we hear the sirens or horn blast on the fire trucks in Whiting where we live.So if you think one donation or act of kindness cant make a difference think again.Here is living proof it can.
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