Heartbreaking.
A woman in Orland Park, Illinois, asked her autistic son what she wanted for a birthday gift. He shocked her with his response, as he asked for a “regular brain.” Mother and son embraced in tears, and the internet soon reacted accordingly, sobbing for such a pure heart.
@laurenashleystudios
I was standing there with curlers in my hair, getting ready for the day, when I asked Noah what he wanted for his birthday tomorrow. I expected him to say a toy. Maybe his favorite snack. A place he loves to go. Instead he looked at me and said: “A regular brain.” And I swear my heart shattered right there in front of him. Noah has level 3 autism, and as he gets older, he’s becoming more aware that he experiences life differently than other kids. To be clear, nobody in our home has ever made him feel “less than.” We celebrate him exactly as he is. Fully. Loudly. Every single day. But the world has a way of making people who are different feel like they need fixing. And hearing your child repeat that pain back to you is something I can’t even explain. I tried so hard not to cry in front of him. I told him my tears were because I loved him so much and because he was perfect exactly the way he is. But the truth is… after I turned the camera off, I completely broke down. I’ve cried on and off all day. I don’t always share the hardest parts of my life online because sometimes they hurt too much to relive. But I know there are other special needs parents carrying heartbreak like this behind closed doors too. And if Noah ever reads this someday, I hope he knows this with every part of him: There has never been anything wrong with his brain. The world just needs to become kinder to people who experience it differently.
♬ original sound – Lauren Ashley Studios
The clip was shared on TikTok by the mother, Lauren Ashley. She is a photographer who shares her work online and also raises awareness about certain topics, such as being an autism mom. The clip attached above quickly became viral, garnering 976,300 views, 124,700 likes, and more than 5,000 comments.
While the clip is particularly short, standing at 19 seconds, the Illinois woman shared a bit of context in its description. She explained that while she was curling her hair, she asked her son, Noah, what he wanted for his birthday, which took place a day after the clip was posted on TikTok.
“I expected him to say a toy. Maybe his favorite snack. A place he loves to go,” Lauren said.
Instead, Noah looked at his mother and said, “A regular brain.”
‘A Regular Brain’
According to Lauren, her heart shattered. Some of those emotions are made evident in the clip above, in which the Illinois mother, crying, asked Noah to repeat his answer. He whispered, “I want a regular brain.” His mother answered back, “Your brain is perfect,” and they both embraced while crying.
She went on to explain that Noah has level 3 autism. Given his age, he is slowly becoming more aware that he experienced the world differently from other children his age. And while Lauren bawled for the rest of the day, she is certain that his son doesn’t need any fixing.
“There has never been anything wrong with his brain,” she concluded. “The world just needs to become kinder to people who experience it differently.”
Internet Cries
The video sparked multiple responses.
Some viewers were incredibly moved by the moment and supported Lauren’s message to her son. One viewer said, “Wait till he finds out his is normal and we’re all the strange ones.” Another one commented, “That young man is beautifully and perfectly made. There is not a thing wrong with him.”
Others, meanwhile, believed that such an intimate moment should have stayed private. One user wrote, “This seems like a conversation that should be off the internet. I dunno.” Another added, “Not everything needs to be recorded and exploited. Have a moment with your son.”
Still, Lauren explained that she chose to share that moment because she knows that other special needs parents are “carrying heartbreak” just like hers.
