This dad’s Facebook post speaks to parents of children with autism

"What happened next was incredible".

One father's account of getting up in the middle of the night to tend to his son, who has severe autism, has gone viral. In the moving Facebook post, Travis Saunders explains that his son is 'mainly non-verbal' and so when he says something, it is an absolutely massive deal. He then goes on to say how he had been up with Patch in the middle of the night and was about to put him back to bed when suddenly, the seven-year-old started to laugh. Spurred on by how happy his son looked, Travis "started acting a little mischievous and silly because I knew it would make him laugh and feel happy, and in turn, make me feel really happy". Seeing his little boy full of joy delighted his dad but even he wasn't prepared for what came next. In the middle of their joking around, Patch spoke, just two words "you're funny" but there's no denying the enormity of this milestone for both father and son. Travis' post, features on the School of the Road Facebook page, which was set up by Travis "to follow him and Patch as they "explore life on bicycles and educate the world on what it means to be autistic". You can read his words in full below:

"Success comes in many different forms and this may be the greatest example in my life to date. It's not work related and it has nothing to do with a project that I'm working on or a marathon I'm running. It has everything to do with being a dad. "You see last night my severely autistic son said the words: "You're funny". "It was late at night and I was going through the process of getting my son back in bed for the upteenth time, when out of the blue he started laughing. So what did I do...I started acting a little mischevious and silly because I knew it would make him laugh and feel happy and in turn make me feel really happy. And what happened next was incredible..a few minutes later he very clearly spoke to me and made a comment about what we were doing. He simply "And what happened next was incredible..a few minutes later he very clearly spoke to me and made a comment about what we were doing. He simply said, "You're funny". Now I can't express how amazing that makes me feel as my son is mainly non verbal and has never said those words before and certainly never EVER made a comment about something we were doing together. And let's face it I'm not funny but I'm a dad and most of them think they're funny, so why can't I. "And just to make this story even more amazing ...tonight I am being interviewed by a USA blogger called Autism Laughter Therapy. Go figure...maybe I am funny. "(Picture: Patch and I having fun together on the trampoline. I reckon we've spent more than 1000 hours jumping together. He loves it) "If you would like to know a little more about what our family is up to our latest video is certainly worth a look".