Dad shames friends for excluding his autistic son from parties
A father has been praised online for publicly addressing the fact that his friends do not invite his six-year-old autistic son to their children’s birthday parties.
Shane Stephenson from Newcastle, called out his friends’ behaviour in a heartfelt post which his wife shared on her Twitter account:
“Right this has been brewing for some time so here it goes and you can like it or f***ing well lump it. My son Reilly has autism not f***ing leprosy; he is six-years-old and my so-called friends who have kids also have kid’s parties.”
He continued, “Not ONE invite not f***ing one. Think about that whilst you go and f*** yourselves; you have any idea how hurtful that is? Just for the record in future don’t bother he’s not an afterthought he’s my every f***ing thought.”
The post has since gone viral, garnering over 2,3000 retweets after Reilly’s mum shared the post on Twitter.
Parents across the country praised Reilly’s father for standing up for his son and readily invited the six-year-old to their own children’s parties:
No one really gets it unless your in it. But I’ve learnt to let go of those “friends”. It’s quite liberating. But doesn’t take away the pain
— Eliza Mishcon (@elizamishcon) November 4, 2017
Let them go & know that your boy will find kids who get him & enjoy his company. Takes a while but it happens.
— KatherineSandersIcon (@sjksanders) November 5, 2017
My son, Bailey, turns 5 in May. We’re in Richmond, London but Reilly is more than welcome to come to his party. ❤️
— Mark Duckett (@markbounce) November 6, 2017
Reilly’s mum told the Huffington Post: “Our friends aren’t horrible people, I know they feel our struggles. They are mortified that Shane feels this way.”
She continued, “There’s some building bridges to be done now that Shane has spoken about how he truly feels and I think only positivity can come from his outburst. The simple advice I give is, just ask.”
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