Kayla Johnston is the mom to a wonderful little boy named Zach. Zach is in the 1st grade and he has Asperger’s as well as ADHD. But mostly? He’s one of the most compassionate kids you’ll ever meet.
Kayla recently wrote a post for the site Love What Matters about a situation that happened while Zach was at school.
“This week is homecoming week for our school. Each day the kids have a theme to dress up to. Zachary is my little boy. He is in first grade and has Asperger’s and ADHD. He is one of the most compassionate people you will ever have the chance of meeting, but he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve,” she wrote.
On Monday, the theme was “superhero day” at Zach’s school. When he woke up that morning, Zach was super excited to take on the day and wear his favorite Flash costume to school. Although, he was admittedly a bit nervous about being made fun of.
Kayla assured Zach that everyone else would be dressing up too and it would be a fun day at school. She also told him that if he ever felt uncomfortable, he could change his shirt and put it in his backpack.
Sadly, after dropping Zach off at school, the very thing that she hoped wouldn’t happen – happened. Just a few minutes into class, some rude classmates started to pick on him and his outfit.
“Unfortunately, that happened within five minutes of being in class. A couple of his classmates pointed and laughed which caused Zach to breakdown. The very thing he feared most happened despite others being dressed up as well. Some of his friends attempted to reassure him but they were fighting a losing battle.”
That evening, Kayla received several phone calls from parents that were concerned about Zach and wanted to make sure he was okay.
Several children had come home from school that day and explained how upset Zach was to their parents. The show of compassion warmed Kayla’s heart and she didn’t want Zach to be discouraged about participating in the rest of the themed days.
“So, we got to work on his costume for Tacky day. He woke up so excited and happy! He eagerly put it on and was ready to go. As soon as we pull up to the school, anxiety got the best of him. He became upset and took everything we worked so hard on off in fear of being laughed at again.”
After another disheartening day at school, Kayla received another call that evening from a parent.
The parent asked Kayla if her little boy could go as Zach’s twin for “Twin Day” at school the next day. Knowing that Zach would be absolutely over the moon about this news, she said ‘absolutely.’
“A few more parents asked if Zach could be their child’s twin too. We decided all 5 kids would go as M&Ms and that we would meet for pictures before school. Wednesday came and it was time to meet. We pull in to find 20+ M&Ms of all ages and grades standing there waiting to see Zach. He was amazed!”
‘Mama!! Do you see all of my friends!’ Zach exclaimed when he arrived at school that day.
Kayla was in total awe of the support Zach was receiving from their amazing community. People had quickly put the word out that Zach was going as an M&M and they all wanted to show him he was loved.
“THIS is what it’s all about. THIS is the world I want my children growing up in. It’s okay to be different. What’s ‘normal’ anyways? If everyone were the same, what a dull place it would be.
Teach your children to love one another. To help one another. To be there in support. The change we want in this world can only come from us and the legacies we leave. Make them good ones.”
See Kayla’s full Facebook post below. The comments are so heartwarming!
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“This week is homecoming week for our school. Each day the kids have a theme to dress up to. Zachary is my little boy….
Posted by Love What Matters onWednesday, September 18, 2019
