Monday, April 27, 2015

No Strings Attached

Jared struggles with social skills and communication skills and anxiety. 

That is how autism affects him.

That makes most social situations pretty tough.

That makes friendships even tougher.

Yet once in a while we run into someone who "just gets him". 
Someone who appreciates Jared just like he is. 
Someone who accepts Jared just like he is....
And likes Jared for Jared!
Someone who befriends him and doesn't expect him to conform to the world's expectations of what a friend looks like or acts like.

We have been fortunate to find a few of these types of people in Jared's 16 years of life.

One of those people is a young lady named Shanice who plays for the VCU Women's bball team. 

Shanice and Jared are friends....

True friends with no strings attached.

She shared about her friendship with Jared in this project for one of her classes -



As we near the end of autism awareness month...
I hope this video not only sparks awareness for what can be,
a hope for what can be possible,
but also an appreciation for the fact that
sometimes the best gifts in life can come from the most unexpected places. 

An appreciation that different is okay...
and an acceptance that autism or not,
disability or not,
everyone brings something to the table that can benefit someone else.




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