JackClosesTarget

For months I'd been shopping at Target with my 9 year old autistic son on Wednesday nights just as the store was closing. Sometimes the lights would go out on us before we could get to the register! But each time, Jack would wait to hear the closing announcement, and he'd prevent my cart from entering the checkout lane any time I was done "too early." He got to know it by heart: "Good evening guest. The time is now 10 o'clock and Target is closed. If you have not already done so, please proceed to the front checkout lanes..." Jack would usually recite it along the announcer.

Well, one evening the announcer misspoke. Jack quickly (and loudly and repeatedly) corrected the announcer. He was a known personality among the Wednesday night staff at this point, and one of them joked that they should let Jack do the closing announcement. The night manager surprised everyone by agreeing that this was a fine idea. The following Wednesday night, Jack closed the store and he's been doing it ever since.

Friends, teachers, tutors and therapists have either shopped at this particular Target on Wednesday night in order to hear Jack's announcement, or plan to do so in the near future. And everyone has noticed that his ability to project his voice and speak clearly has improved dramatically since he began this "job." What's more, Jack feels safe and at home here -- in a big box store that manages to offer the charm and customer attention normally found at a mom-and-pop.

I am so proud of my son, and so grateful to the staff of this Target store for giving him this fantastic opportunity!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Autism
• good
• samaritan
• Target
• shopping
• raising
• children
• irst
• job
• neighborhood
• outreach
• Jack
• Williams
• JackClosesTarget
• speech
• projection
• confidence

[elevator1tom]

where is this at

[JackWilliamsMom]

@elevator1tom: We are in Colorado Springs, CO. I'll tell you, though. There was a change in management about 8 months ago, and this new guy would not let Jack do this anymore. He was just a real rigid, by the book kind of guy. Jack has no idea this has occurred, because I now take him to Target at different times of the day, so he never feels "The Closing Event" (for lack of a better turn) developing in the atmosphere. But it's sad because it's left the other employees kind of depressed.

[JackWilliamsMom]

@elevator1tom: (continued)... The staff enjoyed Jack's announcements and were pleased to participate in his life this way. There's a sense that everyone is waiting for this new manager to move on. :) If he does, maybe Jack will begin announcing again. We'll see.

[JackWilliamsMom]

Aren't they wonderful?!Tell your unnnamed sister in law that we love her to bits!

[llibmahargtube]

Hi . . . I'm the brother-in-law of one of the employees shown in the video. (I won't mention her name because I don't have her permission.) But I would like to commend the employees and manager of Target for allowing little Jack to do his thing. It's a great story!

[murforama]

I see a future in PR or Radio Announcing! Way to go, Jack-o!

[JackWilliamsMom]

I used the closed captioning trick, too!! My son learned sign language and how to read before learning to speak! Isn't that interesting? I'm sorry you live so far away. I bet our kids would enjoy each other's company.

[cinebo]

I did not see his other video but i will definitely take a look at it tomorrow. :) my son, funny enough, is more into taking still pictures... And he is a total ham while doing so lol. He loves taking still pictures. He also gets on my edit software and manipulates video clips that he have shot. If i understand your question, my son likes watching his tv shows and such with closed captioning on which seems to help a lot with his language development.

[JackWilliamsMom]

That is really interesting. I was intrigued by your site and seeing that you're a video editor. Did you happen to see my son's other video? I've been teaching him to communicate with original language by getting him interested in shooting videos. Nothing fancy, of course, but I got out an old cell phone and taught him how to shoot 6 seconds at a time. I'm slowly editing them together (sort of. I don't know what I'm doing, really). Are you doing this with your son too?

[cinebo]

That's awesome. My son is going to be 9 this summer and is also autistic so this video is an especially cool thing for me to get to see =)

From reading your description there - My son also will correct me or anyone else in general that says anything to him that he knows to be incorrect, like the name of something, or spelling of something etc.

Thanks for sharing.