6-Year-Old Writes Letter Explaining Why We Need to Educate Others About Autism

A letter written by 6-year-old Lex Camilleri has gone viral thanks to its powerful message about the importance of educating people about autism and other conditions.

“On Monday I felt very sad because a girl in my class said my brother was weird,” Camilleri wrote in her letter. “My brother has autism and is not weird. I would like it if we could learn about all disabilities in schools so that everybody understands that some people are different, but we should all be treated the same.”

Camilleri’s mother posted the letter on Facebook, where it received more than 23,000 likes and 26,000 shares. “This left Lex really upset, but from this she said she wanted to make a change, she wanted to talk about ‘Disability Awareness In Schools’ in her next School Council Meeting, so she wrote a letter (with a little help from me with the spellings) which she handed in last Thursday,” she wrote. “I’m so very proud that Lex has this view and wants to change the way other children view others with disabilities. She is only 6 years old and is already part of the school council, wanting to make this change.”

The post was shared by U.K. organization National Autistic Society, which applauded Camilleri for her wisdom. “We think there should be much more autism understanding in the classroom which is why are encouraging all schools and nurseries around the country to sign up to our free autism resources,” they shared.