"No, I need to buy another present!" That's pretty much all you think when your child gets a birthday invite, right?
Well, this mum's reaction was much more emotional.
Tricia Klein's seven-year-old Timothy was diagnosed with nonverbal autism aged 2.
Since then, Tricia has politely declined each birthday party invite her son has received, terrified of how her son would behave on the day.
On her blog, she wrote: "I wonder if the parents know what would happen if I brought Timothy? The interruptions, the meltdowns...how I would hate to take the spotlight from the birthday child."
But when Timothy brought home his classmate Carter's invite one day, something was different.
There was a note attached from Carter's mum, Ainsley, offering to adapt things a bit so that Timothy could attend, as per Carter's request.
After outlining the events of the party - a bouncy castle and water balloons - Carter's mum wrote: "Maybe Timothy can come earlier in the day if it would be too much with the whole class. Let me know so we can make it work."
Those words were what made Tricia cry. They also made her RVSP 'yes' for the first time ever - and Timothy not only went along, but had a great time too!
"We need to keep focusing on the CANS instead of the cannots," she wrote. "With as many things there are that Timothy can't do, there's a world full of things he can rock!
In order to make progress you have to keep trying . . . take a chance . . . reach out to others . . . you just never know what can come out of a simple invitation."
