Good News: Santa Calms Boy With Autism

Santa makes kids around the world happy on Christmas morning, but he made an eight-year-old boy in Illinois cry happy tears recently. A little boy with Autism has wanted to meet the man in the big red suit since he was two, but his extreme anxiety and autism have kept him from being able to get close to him.

His mom, recently took him to the Gurnee Mills Mall to try again and says he spent two hours trying to work up the nerve to sit by him. While his twin sister went for a visit, the boy hung back and Santa saw him struggling with frustration, so he came over to visit. He told him, “You’re okay, buddy,” and gave him a candy cane and sticker, all while reassuring him.

It was the right move and the kid was so thrilled, he cried happy tears and smiled. In a Facebook post, Sheila shares that when she put her son to bed that night, he told her he knew that was the real Santa, adding, “I can feel it in my soul.”