His story is well worth telling.

His proud Mum, Deb Collier explains...

From the moment Jackson was first diagnosed with Autism just before his fourth birthday we knew our lives would never be the same again. 

The diagnosis didn’t change our boy, but our whole future with him became uncertain. 

Countless questions came to mind that no one could answer.

Will he ever fit in? 

Will he always struggle with life? 

Will he ever get through school? 

Will he ever be self-sufficient? 

Will he be accepted by his peers and in the community? 

Jackson is now 14 and looking back we marvel at how far he has come. 

Our boy who has faced so many fears in his life has begun to squash those fears by helping others who may face the same. 

Jackson has always been a boy of few words and barely spoke up until the age of four, and rarely in context. 

Imagine my surprise when he opened up as we drove past his old preschool at the age of 11, and told me that he’d like to work there one day and help the children who might be scared. 

Jackson had faced his own daily fears there and felt that he knew exactly what needed to be done to help put frightened children at ease. 

He started to talk to me about how he could tell them they need not worry, that they will have fun and their mums will be coming back. 

He decided that he could play with them and find them toys. 

He had lived it, and therefore knew exactly what to do! 

I could see his wanting to help others. 

Not a trait that is often associated with Autism.

Jackson fears are often followed with obsessions. 

An obsession to learn all he can about what he is frightened of, to then help reduce the anxiety and fear. 

We have had obsessions with vacuum cleaners, crocodiles, air conditioners, lawn mowers, and the list goes on.

When a recent trip to the doctor called for Jackson to have both his feet x-rayed he was showing severe anxiety as we reached the hospital. 

We had researched and googled our hearts out to dispel his fear of x-rays. 

His reasoning being quite logical – how can you take photos of inside your body without it somehow hurting? 

On arrival I don’t know who was more nervous, myself of Jackson. 

You never quite know how he will react once he’s in a stressful situation. 

It could be meltdown, it could be crying, it could be refusal, it could mean judgemental looks from those around you, and it could mean we walk out of there with no x-ray if all the stars don’t align at that one moment! 

My fears were very soon dispelled as we met the beautiful Melissa Gillies. 

Jackson took a little more convincing! 

His anxiety was running high and I just had no idea how he would react. 

Melissa’s kindness and understanding of Jackson’s fears got him through the x-rays with some quite comedic reactions and his favourite song blaring in his ear from his iphone – ‘Let’s Get Ridiculous’ by Redfoo! 

And to Jackson’s delight, on completion he noticed that all of the x-ray equipment was made by Toshiba! 

His biggest obsession of all time! 

With that it was selfies with all the equipment and a week of googling everything to do with radiology and Toshiba. 

With this his obsession of Toshiba CT scanners was born, and also his desire to help other children. 

Jackson knew exactly what the fear of x-rays felt like and he knew exactly what to do. 

He started talking about wanting to buy colouring in books to give to the children that need to have scans or x-rays. 

He has googled all there is to know about Toshiba CT scanners. 

With knowledge comes understanding! 

He came to me just last week and said “Hey Mum, I want to be a Child Life Therapist.” 

I had to google it to make sure it was a thing….it is! 

He wants to help children who are needing medical help and intervention. 

He says he wants to crack jokes and make them laugh. 

He wants to buy them toys, and hold their hands as they have their scans. 

Our boy is proving that Autism can be empathetic, and kind, and caring, and generous. 

There are no limits and there is no box!

We couldn’t have been more proud when Jackson delivered his first bundle of colouring-in books to the radiology department at Parkes Hospital. 

He is fulfilling his dream of making kids happy, and we as parents are seeing our dreams fulfilled – our boy has a purpose, and he is happy!

Our Autism journey has been filled with struggles, worry and tears, but on the flip side the joy, happiness and laughter he brings us cannot to measured. 

Our family would like to thank all the amazing staff at Parkes radiology. 

They have welcomed Jackson in on many occasions and have shown such kindness. 

Thank you for allowing him to make all his dreams come true. 

We would also like to thank those that continue to encourage and work with Jackson on a daily basis. 

His teachers who work tirelessly, our family and friends. 

It truly takes a community to help raise a confident young man who just happens to have Autism!

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Jackson’s work is already having an effect.

A local mother posted a special message on facebook about her little girl who was sick in hospital.

She received one of Jackson's books and said it definitely bought a smile to her little girls face and took her mind off the drip in her arm that she was upset about. 

This was the mother’s facebook message: