TikTok is a place where tons of different communities come together and people of all kinds are able to better understand one another, that in itself is a beautiful thing. While most people think of this app as just a place for people to share dancing videos, there are tons of other topics and things going on within the app itself.
Actually, the app has helped teach a lot of people about autism and things of that sort that most would not necessarily think about otherwise. One mother by the name of Haley McGuire in recent times has even shared her son Micah’s first words on the app and well, it truly is inspiring. This video has gotten a lot of attention and well, it shows a side of things that not everyone gets to see.
On TikTok, Haley has explained that her son has autism and is considered non-verbal or doesn’t talk. This is common for children with autism and for some it gets better in time and for others, it can be quite difficult. However, capturing Micah’s first words on TikTok was powerful and in the first of two videos you can hear his mother ask him to say his name to which he ends up doing exactly that. From there he has learned so many other words as you can see below and the video of him excited over saying the things his mom is asking him to is truly amazing.
@haley_mcguire_photoMicah 💙 ##autisim ##speak ##ohio ##words ##proudparents♬ original sound – haleymcguire23
@haley_mcguire_photoWe love you, Micah 💙 ##autisim ##autistiktok ##fyp ##learningtospeak♬ Iris – Natalie Taylor
You can really see just how happy he is that he’s accomplishing this much, and he’s clearly just as proud of himself as his family and the whole internet is. Small things like this are enormous for those who do not speak as learning words and really moving forward in this sense is the first step to so much more. If you look in the comments to these TikToks you will see just how supportive people from all around the world have been and that in itself is also even more fantastic.
Newsweek reported as follows after speaking to Micah’s mother on all of this:
The public encouragement has been shocking to Micah’s family, who told Newsweek he hasn’t stopped mimicking the family’s words since the videos were filmed this weekend.
“It’s been a day and a half now, and everything we ask him to say, he’s copying,” McGuire said. “He’s not going out of his way to say anything on his own, but he’s literally copying everything we say, which is crazy because he wasn’t talking at all. Every now and then, he’d blurt out a word. But when I say ‘wasn’t talking,’ he would go weeks without saying anything. This is crazy. He’s been doing great.”
A second video, also posted by McGuire on Sunday, showed Micah saying a list of family names like Mama, Papa and Nonnie. “Micah, we are so proud of you,” McGuire wrote at the end of the second video. She reiterated the point.
“I’m just really emotional. I’m really proud of him,” McGuire said. “I don’t think I have an accurate word to describe how I’m feeling other than really–maybe I’m speechless.”
Isn’t Micah a doll? I for one am so glad he and his family are sharing these things because it really does help others to better understand autism as a whole. This kind of thing affects more families than you would think.