A autistic boy had a “sweet interaction” with a Washington State Fair worker and the encounter is going viral on TikTok.
Solomon, 10, and his mom, Abby, went to the fair in Puyallup where they came across a basketball shooting game, the Aug. 30 TikTok posted to their @Super_solo_mon account showed.
That’s where they met the woman running the game, who didn’t hesitate when Solomon wasn’t responding to her, the video that has garnered over 1.1 million views as of Sept. 13 showed.
Instead of speaking to Abby, the woman explained the game right to Solomon, the video showed.
“I know you can do it,” the woman said in the video. “You can do anything you put your mind to.”
Abby then helps steady Solomon in front of the tent and helps him attempt his chance at throwing the ball in the hoop, the video captioned, “I just can’t. No one ever talks to Solo like that. She didn’t even skip a beat when he wasn’t responding. I hope she sees this. I want her to know how much of an impact she made. We need more people like her,” showed.
Although Solomon and Abby didn’t make the shot, the woman can be heard saying “You almost did it,” the video showed.
“You gotta be strong,” she says in the video.
McClatchy News reached out to the Washington State Fair and Abby for a statement on Sept. 13 and was awaiting a response.
His mother told FOX 13 that because of Solomon’s various medical conditions, including his sensory sensitivity and epilepsy that left him nonverbal after the age of 3, they often don’t get to fully enjoy community events like this.
The Washington State Fair Events Center partnered with KultureCity, making them a certified ”Sensory Inclusive” event with staff training and tools to help those with sensory needs, their website said.
“I am more then a mother to him. I am his advocate. I am his therapist. I am his voice,” Abby wrote in a Sept. 10 TikTok. “I am his protector. Sometimes I wonder if I am enough for him. Is what I’m doing enough.”
Commenters were all in agreement that the state fair worker was “an amazing human being.”
“I wish everyone was like this. People don’t understand how hard it is for us,” one person said. “We just want our babies seen.”
“That woman has a beautiful spirit,” another wrote.
“The world needs more beautiful souls like this one,” one wrote.
“That’s a good woman. Bless her,” someone commented.
Abby said “autism didn’t come with an instruction manual” and when she’s doubting herself, Solomon shows her that she is “enough,” the Sept. 10 TikTok said.
“She treated him like everybody else,” Abby told FOX 13. “She gave us that opportunity to try, and it was just magical.”
Puyallup is about a 40-mile drive south of Seattle.
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Source Agencies
