Gem Salter/FacebookWith all the horrible stuff happening in 2016, it’s nice every now and then to reflect on some more positive news.
So with that in mind, here’s a rather touching story about a mum and her trip to a shoe store with her autistic son to get him ready for the new school year.
Gem Salter from Bridgwater, Somerset, needed to get some new shoes for the six-year-old son River. So, last week, she and her husband Tim took him to a Clarks outlet in Street.
Gem Salter/FacebookHowever, as River has heightened senses he struggles with noisy, busy and brightly lit public places the trip could have been very difficult, especially as the store was ‘heaving’.
Understandably the 29-year-old mum of two was pretty worried about the prospect of their visit, so she asked sales assistant Aaran Daniells for help and his response was absolutely incredible.
He went out of his way to accommodate Rivers, as she explains in her now viral post to Clarks Facebook page:
Last week we brought our 6 year old son, River, to the Clarks Village outlet store in Street to be measured for school…
Posted by Gem Salter on Tuesday, 30 August 2016
She said:
I knew there was no way he would cope with that environment so I explained the situation to a member of staff. Without hesitation, Aaran led us away from the noise and crowds to a staff room and placed a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. He was very patient with River, who was anxious, and went and got lots of different shoes for him to try on. Not only did they get new shoes, but Aaran also gave Gem the store’s number and told her they’d happy book an appointment for River to come in before the shop opens, when it’s quiet, in future. Autism acceptance at its best! Thank you Clarks in Street, and a massive thanks to the shop assistant Aaran Daniels.
Her post has been liked an incredible 273,000 times and shared over 34,000 times.
Clarks responded to thank Gem for sharing the ‘amazing’ feedback:
FacebookAaran simply replied: “Thank you for your kind words. Was a pleasure to serve you all.”
These are the kind of people we definitely need more of in the world, what a guy!
