A North Carolina family saw their dreams come true at Disney World when their non-verbal autistic son had a heartwarming exchange with Snow White.
A North Carolina family saw their dreams come true at Disney World when their non-verbal autistic son had a heartwarming exchange with a woman dressed as Snow White.
Amanda Coley had suspected for more than a year that little “Jack Jack” had autism, as her middle son was diagnosed when he was“When Jack Jack kind of regressed at 6 months old, we knew sort of knew,” she told InsideEdition.com.
“To us he’s very loveable, he’s always been extremely happy, but when it comes to other people, he’s just very shy. If he’s scared of someone he cries. But otherwise, if he doesn’t know someone, he ignores them," she said.
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So when Coley, her husband and her three sons took their annual trip to Disney World last November, she knew that her youngest child might not be moved by the many characters floating around the park.
"He wasn’t interested at all. Then he met Snow White," she laughed.
In a touching video Coley posted to YouTube, little Jack Jack can be seen cuddling up to the Disney princess, who was more than happy to show the boy affection.
“First he laid his head on her shoulder, smiling at her. All I could think was ‘oh my god! He’s not running away! He’s not scared!’ Definitely to see him sit with somebody for so long and just be that content was amazing,” Coley told IE.com.
“Those are things we never get to see him do with anybody but us. It gave me hope there watching that that he will have the ability to warm up to people someday." she added, saying that he was formally diagnosed with autism two weeks after they returned from their trip.
The toddler, who was dressed as Pinocchio, appeared to be mesmerized by the raven-haired beauty, unable to look away as she held his hand and hugged him.
“It was so touching for us to have her sit there and react to him … her reaction to him was very sincere and we just felt that was so awesome. We wonder how much of it was herself versus how much was (her) Snow White (costume),” Coley said. “She was just so calm with him and very nurturing.”
The woman dressed as Snow White had no idea that her actions meant so much.
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“She had no idea he had any disability. That was so touching for us,” Coley said. “It’s obvious that she has a really good soul to bring out the reaction that she did.”
Jack Jack is still fascinated with his love, constantly requesting to watch the video of their meeting since his mom showed him the clip.
“He will watch it all day long if I let him,” Coley said. “He comes to me and points to the computer and points for me to put him in my lap. And when it’s over, he signs for ‘more.’ He tries to give kisses to the screen. He’s absolutely in love with watching it.”
When the family returns to Disney World in November, Coley hopes to find the fairest of them all to let her know what she means to her little boy and to give him the chance to see his love again.
“I would just love for her to know how much this actually meant to us,” she said. “I appreciate how she took that time with him and didn’t rush him away. We’ve been in tears so many times just watching it and thinking about it. It’s something that we’ll never forget.”
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