An 11-year-old boy with autism who wrote on his homework sheet that he had no friends has been inundated with gifts and cards.
Christopher’s dad, Bob Cornelius, posted a photo of his son’s homework to Facebook last week with the heartbreaking realisation.
When asked to finish the sentence: “Some of my friends are...”, he realised his son had put: “No one”.
Cornelius took to social media to make a plea to other parents to educate their children about including their peers who might not be ‘typical’.
“Because he didn’t have a friend,” he wrote. “He’s never had a friend. Ever. He just turned eleven.”
However, since the story broke, Christopher has received thousands (literally) of cards and gifts.
“First wave of the card shower, please share!” his dad wrote on Facebook on 23 September.
On 24 September, Cornelius posted another update.
And it doesn’t stop there...
Cornelius had received hundreds of private messages from people who had seen his first post, asking the address where they could send his son a gift.
He wrote on Facebook: “All this attention is a little surreal. The messages are in the thousands at this point.
“I’d like to thank everyone for sharing their stories with me and my family.
“Thank you all for your thoughtfulness, your grace, and your kindness.”
His original Facebook post has been shared more than 50,000 times.
