A teacher from the city of Jalisco in western Mexico recently posted a video of two of her students with special needs. In the video, a child with Down syndrome comforts another child with autism.
The video begins with the two children sitting at a desk in their white school uniforms. The little boy on the right is visibly upset while the student on the left notes his sadness.
A child with Down’s Syndrome wipes a few tears from his friend’s eyes, then rubs his nose. The young child approaches from the left, then raises his arms and hugs the autistic child. The embrace continues for a few moments while the child rubs his friend’s back.
As the video continues, the boy on the left raises his friend’s arms and begins to playfully hold and wave them. Then soft music begins to flood the classroom. The video ends with the boy with Down syndrome once again wiping the tears from his friend’s eyes.
After the teacher posted the video on Facebook, it quickly went viral, having been viewed over 20 million times so far. Those who watched the video praise the school for fostering empathy and understanding within their organization. Others say the world can learn all it needs from the pure hearts of boys.
One in 700 children born in the world today has Down syndrome, which is caused by an extra chromosome. Autism develops later in childhood and affects 1 in 59 children.
