Advertisement

Canadian dad receives ‘best Father’s Day’ gift from autistic son

Canadian dad receives ‘best Father’s Day’ gift from autistic son

Simon Squire of Greenwood, N.S., recently uploaded a photo of the Father's Day gift that melted his heart.

His autistic son, Corran, scrawled "I like dad" on his Magna Doodle, a magnetic drawing toy, making it the first time the young boy has ever acknowledged Squire as "dad."

"My son has autism and never calls me dad or acknowledges me in any way. Today he wrote this on his drawing board. Best Fathers day ever!" Squire wrote on Reddit.

[photo]

Squire, a member of the Canadian Forces, shared more of the story on his blog.

Also see: Deaf mom hears her son's voice for the first time in viral YouTube video

"I was relaxing after a particular stressful week at work when suddenly my son walks up to me," he wrote. "He gets my attention first off by walking up to me and saying. 'Hi Daddy.' This blows me away but nothing prepares me for what happens next. Corran hands me his Magna Doodle and walks away. I looked down at the toy and froze."

He was looking at the simple message that has now gone viral.

"On the toy are three simple words that made my weekend and blew my fathers day out of the water," he wrote.

The story of Corran's sweet expression of love was soon being read around the world, with strangers sending their love and overwhelming support for Squire and his family.

"My son is four and also autistic. The first time he called me "Mama"...I nearly died from happiness and just tears..tears all day :)" wrote Britt001Bond on imgur.

Also see: Second grader in wheelchair set apart from classmates in school photo

"I almost fell apart when my on-spectrum daughter responded, for the first time, with the words 'I love you too.' She is 11 and has always made clear, by habit, physical demonstration and demands, that I am important to her. But to hear those words and get a simultaneous squeeze of the hand seemed like the opening of a larger more complete world," wrote redditor cderhammerhill. "I'm so glad he reached out to you in this way. I hope it is a first step of many."

Squire says that a DJ in Pakistan heard about their story and dedicated a song to Squire and Corran.

"This was one of the best weekends I've ever had. I'm so proud of my son. I can't imagine it will get much better than this. A friend speculated that for all I know, the news will get hold of me next (I hope not, I don't think I could take it). Who knows? All I know is that right now, I am one very happy dad," he wrote.

Squire concluded his blog post with a second photo: "I love my son."

[photo2]