A Boy with Autism Said He Wanted Friends. So Over 50,000 People Sent Him Birthday Greetings.

One boy with autism, who said that his two wishes were to learn to drive and make friends, just gained a whole lot of them.

Daniel Harrison, who has autism, lives in Nottingham, England.

“Daniel, for the first time, was asked at his special needs school to write two things that he’d like to achieve,” Daniel’s dad, Kevin Harrison, told CBS News. “His first was learning to drive and the second thing – which surprised us – was ‘make some friends,’ because we didn’t understand that he understood the theory of friendship.”

Harrison added that Daniel has never expressed wanting friends, “So, that shocked us to the core, really.”

Harrison decided to send out a tweet asking for people to wish Daniel a happy birthday.

Daniel’s my son. Profoundly Autistic. Hasn’t one friend. It’s his birthday today. In his ECHP he wrote that his two wishes were to learn to drive and make friends 😣 Please wish him a happy birthday. Please show him you care. Please share. ##happybirthday #autism #rt pic.twitter.com/Psu97TSj6g

— Kev & Daniel (@kevharrison_) September 29, 2021

The number of people who responded was overwhelming.

As of publishing time, Harrison’s tweet has received over 123,000 likes, 20,000 retweets and over 50,000 comments.

Mark Hamill, famous for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series, responded to the tweet with a happy birthday message:

For my friend Daniel: 🎂 pic.twitter.com/gBIzuEb9Sk

— Mark Hamill (Mar🐫) (@HamillHimself) September 29, 2021

CBS News reports that according to Harrison, celebrities Russell Crowe, Sharon Stone and Ariel Winter also reached out to Daniel.

But some of the most moving replies were from parents with children who also have special needs.

“My son Dylan is similar (he has Klinefelter Syndrome and 16p11.2 Deletion Syndrome). Happy birthday Daniel from us both,” one parent responded.

“Happy Birthday, Daniel! My daughter Angelina also has Autism and she also struggled for years to make friends. She now has lots of friends and I promise things will get better. Angelina would love to be your friend! Have a great birthday!” another replied.

Regarding Daniel’s wish to drive a car, Harrison “says Daniel likes to play ‘Mario Kart’ on Nintendo, and that’s as close as he’ll get to driving for now.”

He also noted that the overwhelming responses, some of which he showed Daniel, “made him jump for joy.”

“It made me happy for Daniel, but you know, it’s made me happy for parents and families and friends of autistic people across the globe,” Harrison said.

He added that he hopes others who heard about Daniel will remember: “Don’t ever feel like you’re alone. Because I felt like that, and I know other families will. You’re not alone. Just simply that, people do love you.”

If you need someone to talk to, Focus on the Family offers a free phone counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. Call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out a counseling consultation request form here.

Additional resources:

Resources: Special Needs & Disabilities

Photo from Twitter.