This 9-Year-Old Was Asked To Explain His Autism And Now He's Going Viral

 

A Nine-Year-Old YouTube Sensation

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George Yionoulis looks like any 9-year-old boy you'd meet. Like a lot of kids his age, he likes making videos an posting them on any or all sorts of social media. In this case, George made a video message on YouTube that has received a pretty good number of hits.  It's not because it's just another boy who can dance or spit sick rhymes.

What makes George's video so amazing is in how he tells us about his condition. He's been dealing with autism all of his life. Despite that George said that "he's a kid, just like you," and it really shows all the way throughout.

A Quiet Child A First

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His parents discovered he has an autism spectrum disorder when was 2 years old. “I didn’t speak until I was almost 3 years old," George said in his video. He said that his parents weren’t sure if I would ever speak at all, but when he started talking he started using all the words he'd learned as if he'd recorded them in his mind. 

But Sometimes Had Some Really Bad Times

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George is a very brave kid in how open he is with his condition. He even includes a video of himself at a younger age throwing a tantrum. There are parts of the viral video where he flubs in his narration and it shows his frustration.

Check Out The Footwork

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That doesn't mean the boy doesn't have a capacity for boundless joy. He has hobbies like any other kid - he loves dancing, as can be seen at the beginning of the video. It's just one of the ways he expresses himself not just as someone with autism, but as a regular kid.

Don't Let The Gaze Fool you

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Yes, he has interests that you'd find in many other kids, but George explains very well that his personality is very different. "Like a lot of kid with autism," he said, " I might not have been looking, but that doesn't mean I wasn't listening."

His Battle With Sensory Overload

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He also explains how difficult it is to filter out sensory input, like lots of noises in a crowded room. " I can hear and see a lot of things and sounds all at the same time," he said. That makes just one sound or thought something for him to focus on.

You Literally Can't Mess With His Words

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Play on words isn't the best when you're with George. He explained that he has a habit of taking what people say literally. If you tell him to have a seat,  "you might find one less chair in your classroom," he said. It works out better for everyone if you're more specific. 

But Always Ask Away, He Won't Bite

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George says he does get frustrated when things don't go the way he planned. He might even scream, but he still wants people to be honest with him. He just wants people to be unafraid of asking him questions. 

Larger Than Life

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George's mother has had him in the same school since kindergarten. That means he's known people for years and has had a network of friends (mostly girls) who've checked up on him. It has been harder for him to make connections with boys because of his personality. 

He Wants To Break The Myths Of Autism

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George wants to make it very clear that not all kids with autism are the same. For example, he says that he likes to touch as many things as possible, but that might not be the case for other kids on the spectrum. Their reactions to happiness or frustrations are entirely dependent to themselves. 

The Best Parents A Boy Can Have

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Lisa Jolley, George's mother, and her husband Mike Yionoulis have said that it's like "solving a different puzzle every day and there's a lot of pieces." They're still proud of their son in how much of a joy he can be. More importantly, they love that George is so enjoyable to anyone he meets.

Just How Popular Is George's Video?

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George's video is a delightful piece into the life of someone who lives with autism. He made it for his fourth-grade class, but when he put it up on YouTube in November the crowd got much larger. Tens of thousands watched the video, making him an internet star, if just for a moment.

The Video Has Affected Many Others On The Spectrum

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George’s mother, Lisa Jolley, posted the video on Youtube, not thinking of the huge popularity it'd have.  She said that the support they have been getting is nothing short of amazing. Other people have shown this to their children with autism and have felt a connection to how George expresses himself. 

This Is Why George's Video Is Important

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Compared to a decades previously, we know so much more about autism spectrum disorder. But there's still a lot of misconceptions. That's what makes a video like George's so important - to see a first-hand perspective on things. It's great to have a carefree educational explanation without the stigma we see everywhere else.