Father's Facebook Request For Autistic Son Goes Viral
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MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - A father's Facebook request for his autistic son has gone viral, and the international goodwill it's created has his family on a mission to pay it forward.
The post office is delivering mail by the cart loads every hour to the Kleis home. There have been so many deliveries, Chad Kleis is on a first-name basis with his carrier.
The carts full of cards and packages are just from strangers, who saw Chad's Facebook post asking for cards for his son Hunter's birthday.
Hunter has autism and has trouble speaking. His parents say other children don't invite him to their birthday parties, so the family decided to have a private celebration last weekend, but he hoped others would connect with Hunter in writing.
"For Hunter and a lot of the kids on the spectrum, he's able to read, and he's been able to read since about two, two-and-a-half, and that's one of the things that he enjoys doing," explains Chad.
Since that Facebook post, the cards haven't stopped coming, and it's all Hunter's parents can do to keep up with the full-time job of sorting the mail.
"It actually says from the middle of the earth, New Zealand," said Chad, reading one of the cards.
While Hunter is in school, plans for a new surprise are in the works. Even though his birthday is over, Chad plans to turn his son from birthday boy to birthday host, by throwing a whole new event Saturday, March 21. It will be a celebration catering to other families of children with autism, so they can share the goodwill from around the world.
"He'll have the best birthday ever, and that's all I've ever wanted. That's all my wife and I ever wanted," said Chad.
Hunter's family has started an autism advocacy group, which will host the party at Strikz Bowling Alley in Frisco from noon to 2 pm.
It will be held in a special room that's sensory sensitive for autistic children, and the public is invited to attend.
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