A father from Essex has described the emotional moment he received his first ever text message from his non-verbal autistic son. James Hunt, known for his autism advocacy on Instagram, said the message 'hello dad' left him completely stunned.
James and his wife Charlotte, who separated and care for their two autistic children individually, maintain a positive co-parenting arrangement. Their son Tommy, who is non-verbal, had previously used picture cards to communicate his needs.
Speaking on the CBeebies Parenting Helpline podcast, James explained that Tommy had been using a communication app for years, selecting pictures associated with words to form sentences. More recently, he learned to type using a keyboard and began sending text messages from his mother's phone.
'His first text was, was 'hello dad',' James recalled. 'And I was like, and it was from his mum's phone. I was like, 'Tommy?, what's going on?' I had no idea this was happening.'
Since then, Tommy has progressed to asking about his father's day and sending messages such as 'I love you' and 'I miss you'. James said the development has been a remarkable milestone for the family.
