EDMONTON – Eighteen year-old David Wilson has come a long way since being diagnosed with autism 12 years ago. Back then, his parents were told by a doctor that their son would likely end up in a group home. Not only has he proven that prediction wrong, but he’s also winning awards.
“David’s story is a testament to the resiliency of a child overcoming obstacles most kids…never have to deal with,” Alberta’s Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk said as he introduced David and his father Scott Wilson before Monday’s Question Period. It was just one of several recent honours for David.
“I’m so excited that we’re able to come back to the Legislature now,” said his proud dad, “because that’s where the story really began.”
David’s parents first noticed there was something a little different about their son when he was roughly four years old.
“We’d go to the playground and David would just go off by himself and dig in the sand. He wouldn’t even recognize that there were other kids around him to play with,” recalls Scott.
That separation between him and his peers began getting wider.
“We really didn’t understand what was going on. It was a real, sort of, troublesome time for us,” says Scott. “You could see something wasn’t quite right, but you just couldn’t put your finger on it.”
David ended up being diagnosed with autism before entering the first grade; the next few years of his schooling were a challenge, according to his dad, due to a lack of support programs in place.
One thing that seemed to make a difference, though, was his parents teaching him how to be resilient. Scott believes David’s inner strength has affected all areas of his son’s life, and even helped him get through being bullied.
“He would say, ‘I was helping that particular classmate again today’ – and that meant that he was being the victim of taunts or teases, or erasers being thrown when the teacher’s back was turned; but he never internalized that.”
More than anything, Scott feels his son benefited from the Family Support Program for Children with Disabilities, which was introduced by the Ralph Klein government in 2004.
“Getting those supports, getting those services were key to supporting the needs of my son so that he could actually be all that he could be.”
“Quite frankly, if I go back twelve years and you had asked me what I predicted for my son, in all honesty, I would have said he would have been, you know, destined for AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped). He would have been dependent on the government for support. Now he’s able to go and get a job, and not just get a job, but be named Employee of the Year.”
“My job is amazing,” David says. “I met so many great, amazing people.”
His Save-on-Foods manager, Adam Harvey, speaks very highly of him.
“He’s always done a great job. His attention to detail is the best I have in the store, actually,” Harvey says. “He’s a great kid, gets along with everybody. He’s coming out of his shell so much from when we first started working with him. He just needed a chance.”
In addition to his co-workers voting him Employee of the Year at the end of 2012, David’s outstanding community efforts and leadership also made him one of 18 recipients of the Alberta Great Kids award in March.
Next, he’ll be getting his high school diploma – something that, at one point, didn’t seem possible. He has his sights set on attending NAIT in the fall to study digital media; and he will also soon be competing at the black belt level in Taekwondo.
“The thing I’m most proud of is the fact that he’s so centered and so confident about himself and his abilities,” his dad says. “He genuinely expects to succeed at everything he does. And he will not give up until he accomplishes it. It’s really, truly remarkable.”
“My son’s story is a perfect example of how, when those resources rally around the needs of the child, that we can actually make a positive change.”
With files from Su-Ling Goh, Global News
Follow @TrishKozicka
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