The beauty of life is that whenever we feel down and lose faith in humanity along the way, someone crosses our path and restores it, teaching us that things aren’t as bad as they look.
Kim is a mother of an autistic daughter who is a very special girl with a heart of gold. However, in today’s world, people don’t really care how nice someone is, as long as they are different, they don’t fit the standards of our society, which is really devastating, but sadly, that’s how many people react.
This mother knows that best. She was over the moon with her daughter’s 11th birthday party, eager for Amy to have the time of her life. But, that day turned out to be one of the worst days they’ve experienced. None of the schoolmates she invited showed up. Amy was sitting there all by herself, with no friends around.
That was the last time this mother threw a birthday party for her daughter.
When the time came for Amy to turn 13, Kim called a bakery to order a birthday cake. When Elizabeth Scott from Savage’s Bakery asked about the venue of the party, Kim told her how there wasn’t going to be any, and then explained why they stopped throwing parties and inviting people. Elizabeth simply couldn’t believe how a girl that young wouldn’t have a party, so she decided to take things into her hands.
She went beyond decorating a cake with a bunch of flowers Amy was crazy about, and wanted this girl to experience the joy of opening gifts, dancing, and singing.
She told AL.com.
“This spoke to my heart. I told her we would invite a bunch of folks and make it extra special.”
Elizabeth posted an invitation for Amy’s birthday party on the bakery’s Facebook page and envisioned a handful of people popping by. She reached out KultureCity, an organization that helps public places become more sensory-friendly for autistic people, in hopes they will come up with something special for Amy.
Dr. Julian Maha, founder of KultureCity, has an autistic child herself and understands how these children are often treated by their peers.
“No one ever invites you to their birthday party and no one ever attends a birthday party for you.”
What Julian did was sort of amazing. She brought a brand new sensory activation vehicle to the bakery’s parking lot. There were lots of fun things inside of it that would also serve the purpose of calming down the children with autism.
“The other kids joined her in it, which relieved her anxiety, and then she went in after that and had a really good time at the party.”
The party was a huge success, with a lot of people and kids attending it. Amy received many gifts, among which a colorful stuffed chicken that clucked which she loved the most.
Elizabeth went a step further and took Amy inside her shop explaining how her cake was decorated. She made sure Amy gets her flowers and the best party she could ever ask for.
Elizabeth told AL.com:
“We made it a special day for her. Amy was all smiles, all day long.”
Kim was beyond grateful for what Elizabeth did for Amy. She was just a complete stranger who wouldn’t let a young girl spend her special day without guests to celebrate together with her.
Julian on the other hand said how it was important for people to understand that autistic children are no different than the rest of the kids. They want to have fun as much as everyone else, and people like Elizabeth who are aware of this are those who make the change in these kids’ life.
“People like Elizabeth, for me, are the reason why we do what we do, because if we can convert someone like Elizabeth who really has no personal connection to disabilities and take that message of inclusion and acceptance to the next level, we’ve done our job.”
Take a look at the unique birthday party. This will make your day!