Montgomery County, Md. — A 13-year-old boy with autism who was chosen to become Montgomery County’s Autism Ambassador met Pope Francis earlier this week.
Jake Edwards was among the 14 who were honored as the “Champions of Change” at the White House Monday.
The young boy met the Pope as a representative of the Special Needs Ministry of the Archdiocese of Washington.
During his normal days, Jake works alongside law enforcement officials to help them better understand individuals living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to Jake:
“There are many different forms of autism, if someone doesn’t talk maybe it’s because they can’t. If someone doesn’t look at you, maybe it’s too painful for them.”
Jake’s mother, Jenn Lynn, couldn’t be more proud of how far her son has gotten. She told:
“We need to learn to accept them, and that’s his main thing. He talks about ‘why can’t everyone be nice?’ why can’t you just be nice?”
After Jake’s much-awaited meeting with Pope Francis, he is set to get back to work through a talk he will be giving at a crisis intervention workshop to be held at Rutherfordton in North Carolina, which will be attended by local law enforcement officials.
Source: Diane Roberts: WUSA9: 13-year-old Autism Ambassador to visit Pope, White House