Santa Gifts Boy With Autism With Powerful Message We Can All Get Behind
Sometimes it’s the simplest messages that can have the most resonance, as in the case of one particular Santa who told one special little boy, “It’s okay to be you.”
There is a lot of meaning packed into those five simple words, but for the little boy to whom Santa addressed and his family, that phrase is a gift.
“It’s okay to be you.”
Last Friday, 6-year-old Landon Johnson’s family took him to a local mall in Grandville, Michigan. While there, Landon and his cousins spent some one-on-one time with Santa, telling him about their Christmas wishes.
Like a lot of little boys, Landon’s Christmas wishes are pretty easy to figure out and easy to get, as well. A Wii, a toy dinosaur, and a remote control car. When he was done detailing his Christmas list, Landon hopped off of Santa’s lap, but just a few moments later, he raced back.
He had forgotten to tell Santa something, and it was important.
His mom, Naomi Johnson, shared the encounter in a moving Facebook post.
“He wanted to tell [Santa] that he has autism. He was flapping his hands, all excited to let Santa know.”
His mom explained that people who mistake autism for bad behavior often tell Landon he is naughty, and Landon was worried that his autism would land him squarely on the “naughty list.”
In an interview with WOOD-TV, Landon’s mom said, “You get the stares when you’re at the grocery store if he’s too loud, if he’s throwing a fit He’s been told by other people before, ‘You don’t need to be so naughty,’ or ‘Why are you so naughty?'”
Because of that sort of damaging and unhelpful commentary, Landon had a specific worry that he wanted to share with Santa — he wondered if his autism, and the behaviors associated with it, had landed him on the infamous naughty list.
And the good-hearted Santa took the time to listen to Landon, holding the little boy’s hand. Landon’s mom detailed the encounter on social media.
“Santa sat him next to him and took L’s hands in his and started rubbing them, calming them down. Santa asked L if it bothered him, having Autism? L said yes, sometimes. Then Santa told him it shouldn’t. It shouldn’t bother him to be who he is.”
Landon was open with his difficulties and told Santa that he sometimes “gets in trouble at school and it’s hard for people to understand that he has autism” but that he’s “not a naughty boy.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208176394946821&set=o.274199228569&type=3&theater
Santa recalled the exchange with Landon in an interview.
“You know I love you and the reindeer love you and it’s OK. You’re a good boy…you’re a good boy, you know.”
Landon’s mom said she was incredibly moved by Santa and his kind message to her son.
“This stranger in a red suit told my son the same message I’ve been trying to get through to him for a while now — that he’s special and I love him just the way he was made,” she said in an interview with Today. “Seeing Landon’s face light up in that moment was just incredible. I couldn’t stop crying.”
Johnson’s Facebook post detailing the encounter between her son and Santa has gone viral, and the mom says she finds the incredible support and encouraging words she has received from strangers around the country to be overwhelming and magical.
“There’s actually that magic still there. That’s what everyone wants this year is that magic.”
And it seems as though magic is exactly what Landon got this year.
“He was the real Santa Claus,” the child said with confidence.
And who knows? Maybe he is the real Santa. And even if he isn’t, his message is certainly one everyone can get behind — it is really okay to be you.
[Image via Shutterstock]
