Rylee asks Parker to prom

Parker is 16 and was born with a genetic disability called Fragile X Syndrome ( www.fragilex.org ) the leading cause of inherited intellectual impairment and the leading known genetic cause of autism. Parker faces (and conquers!) many daily challenges that having fragile x brings to his life including: anxiety, sensory processing difficulty, speech delay, intellectual and cognitive impairment, poor fine motor skills and so much more. He has an amazing sense of humor, is very compassionate, loves his friends, his family and sports! Parker has been fully included since pre-school, which has not always been easy but completely worth the fight to make happen. For many years I went to the school to talk to his classmates about Fragile X, what it is, how it affects Parker and how to be his friend - and a friend to someone with a disability. Through inclusion many, many amazing friends have been made for Parker, including Rylee! Parker loves school dances (and hot girls!) he's been anxiously preparing for prom - which is still many months away (in April) since last November. Thursday night I (nervously) put a request on Facebook that Parker was looking for a date. A couple of hours later, Rylee sent me a text asking if she could take Parker to prom. Parker loves to wear ties and knew that he would need a tie to match the dress of his prom date, Rylee used that as a way to ask him to prom. Friday morning, before school, Rylee met us at the drop off location and surprised Parker with a tie and asking him if he would go with her to prom. Surprises are difficult for Parker as you see right away but thanks to Rylee's calm encouragement and their friendship, he quickly listened to what she asked... the rest, as they say - is history. This has been quite and amazing day and we are looking forward to prom in April. *A sweet little piece of Parker and Rylee history - when Parker was in middle school, the first time he danced with a girl at a dance was with a girl I didn't know but who made my son the happiest boy there that night by asking him to dance. (I need to find the picture, I think I have it somewhere!). That girl, Parker's first dance partner - was no other than Rylee heart emoticon She has always been filled with acceptance, understanding and compassion - an amazing young lady! It's been wonderful to watch their friendship grow over the years and now for them to attend their junior prom as friends together soon, is just amazing. Please take a few minutes to learn more about Fragile X Syndrome, the millions of people living with it in our world and how you can help make a difference in their lives at www.fragilex.org Here is my Facebook post from that morning: I was a little nervous about this surprise this morning. We have a set routine and well, surprises even when good, sometimes don't go over well. As you'll see, after getting over the shock of Rylee being outside of his door...this went really, really well!! Parker and Rylee are going to PROM!!! Seriously huge kudos to Rylee who came up with the idea of asking him and how to ask him all on her own! She knows him so very well ! This was perfect! Looking forward to prom on April 23rd!