Micheal Whary is a boy on the autism spectrum. About 1 in 42* boys will be diagnosed with autism.

Micheal Whary is also a Boy Scout striving to become an Eagle Scout. The Eagle Scout requirements are tough, so only about 1 in 100 scouts will achieve this distinction.

And Michael Whary is an amazing kid with a great video message for all parents of children with autism.

At age 2, Michael was diagnosed with autism. His doctors told his parents that he would have limitations. Don’t all kids have limitations in one or more aspects of their lives? Some kids can sing well, others can’t. Some kids are athletic, some are not. Some kids can act, while others have stage fright. Some kids can read at accelerated levels and some read more slowly. Some kids are social butterflies, while some kids are shy. That’s normal. So when people ask Michael what is it like to have autism. He asks, “what is it like to be normal?”. He insightfully thinks its the same in a lot of ways.

Michael’s parents turned to an early intervention preschool called the Children’s Developmental Center (a United Way Agency) to start Michael’s education. This early intervention education may have made all the difference for this motivated and accomplished kid. Now, Michael takes advanced classes and is an honors student in high school. Michael also plays the trumpet with his high school marching band and competes at track and field in the shot put and discus events. Michael is a Boy Scout too. He hopes to become an Eagle Scout on February 19th, when he goes in front of the Boy Scout Council. He has a good chance of making Eagle Scout because you need to earn at least 21 merit badges. Michael has 45. A scout also has to demonstrate scout spirit by upholding the oath and laws and through service and leadership. One of the major requirements to earn the Eagle Scout badge is to complete an extensive service project that the scout has to plan, organize, manage and lead.

The Eagle Scout service project is the opportunity for a scout to demonstrate leadership while completing a project that benefits any religious institution,  school or community. Michael chose to do an autism awareness video (embedded below) aimed at parents of autistic kids. The video will melt your heart and fill you with hope and understanding. And the video will likely earn him the coveted Eagle Scout badge next month. Michael’s goal is to help parents across the country better understand autism. Michael wants to give parents a message of hope and urge them to get their kids a head start on education, so that they can lead a better life. The video certainly achieves its goal.

Kidmunication Point

The overall message of the video is simple. Your child can be happy, make friends, progress in school, work and be a part of the community. Thank you Michael for showing us that all of this is achievable.

Help us help Michael spread his message by sharing this post, so that others can view his message. It’s easy to do just click on the sharing buttons below or directly on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you.

* Source Autism Speaks