Living on the spectrum is not easy, and neither is moving to a new town. When Kanesha Leach-Petelo, her husband and their son moved to Goose Creek, South Carolina a year ago, Kanesha was rather concerned about how her son might adjust to things.
8-year old A.J Petelo lives with autism. His brain is wired just a bit differently from yours or mine, and he might just do things a bit differently too.
In much the same way a guitar player and a pianist are masters of their own instruments, people on the spectrum just need a bit of help understanding the systems that the rest of us neurotypical folk use.
You wouldn’t call a pianist dumb for not knowing the guitar. They’re proficient on the instrument they’re used to.
And it’d be pretty unfair to call them dumb for being unfamiliar with a different instrument, don’t you agree?
Just like how you’d get a guitar tutor for a beginner guitarist, Kanesha needed someone to show AJ around and help him adjust to life in a bustling new town.
As mentioned earlier, a person on the spectrum can’t adjust to societies and systems made for the neurotypical that easily. This is where AJ’s mom sought outside help for the 8-year old.
And who better than someone whose very job is to patrol the town?
The local police department was who his mother turned her sights to. Surely, looking out for an 8-year old is a piece of cake compared to their day to day work.
AJ’s father is regularly out of town for work, so Kanesha needs some way to ensure AJ is being watched after. Taking him to tour the police station, police captain Tom Hill took to being hands-on and engaging with AJ. He played tour guide when showing AJ around the station.
“We gave him the tour of the police department, rolled his fingerprints, showed him around,”
Knowing who to call and what to do can go an incredibly long way, especially if you’re a kid on the spectrum in an unfamiliar place.
With his dad out of town most of the time, his mom being shorthanded at home because of that, AJ needs to know who to call in the event of an emergency.
And by the looks of things, AJ really appreciated Captain Hill’s engagement with him. In fact, that might be understating things a little bit.
AJ took to writing letters to Captain Hill, and the captain was more than happy to respond. It wasn’t long before they became pen pals.
Their interactions took an even more wholesome turn, when the police captain who looked out for AJ received a heartfelt note from the inquisitive 8-year old.
“Dear Captain Hill, how are you? I wanted to ask you if you would be my godfather. A godfather is a dad who will be there if my dad can’t and I want that to be you.”
If you found this anything but adorable and touching, just imagine how Captain Hill felt!
“I think the family unit is an extremely important thing to me. I told him that I would be honored to be his godfather. I met up with him at a park, I provided him with a letter and I have him a little gift.”
Now AJ and his mother have a lot less to worry about, and Captain Hill has a godson. All because they reached out for help.
It’s easy to forget, but some of the most strong-tie and meaningful relationships begin with a simple conversation.
Take a page out of AJ’s book and try a shot at having little interactions with new people. It could go a long way, and you wouldn’t even know!
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