9-year-old George Yionoulis loves music, dancing, art and tacos. A budding DJ, he creates his own music, and created the sound track to this very special video.
George has autism and he made this video about his life to help his classmates to better understand it.
In the clip viewed over one million times, George talks about his life with autism in a way that is both educational and heartwarming.
"I like the same stuff you do. I think farts are hilarious, but not all the time. I also like Harry Potter, My Singing Monsters, Minecraft and tacos."
George also explains how he is different from other kids:
"I didn't speak until I was three years old. My parents thought that I would never speak at all.
We all know how that turned out," he jokes.
He explains that even if he's not making eye contact, he's still listening:
"I can hear and see a lot of sounds and things at the same time with makes it difficult to focus on any one sound or thought."
"That's why it may take a little more time for me to answer you when you ask me a question."
He also goes through the signs that he's excited about things and tools, like headphones and chewing gum, that help him to focus. As well as explaining why a meltdown might happen:
"I sometimes get frustrated when I get interrupted or when something doesn't go as planned."
George clearly has a great sense of humour, especially when it comes to taking things literally:
"If you say take a seat you might find one less chair in your classroom. Or if you say it's raining cat and dogs, I think I'm getting a new puppy!"
"I don't like yoghurt, it's probably nothing to do with autism just the fact that I can smell it across the room."
But at the end of the day, his differences are what make him who he is: "I'm a kid just like you. Because all us kids are different in our own ways."
He's open to talking about it, and encourages his classmates to ask him questions about having autism:
"No seriously it's okay just come ask me about it."
A seriously inspirational and eye-opening video!
