Father’s Report Card for Daughter With Autism Goes Viral

One father’s attempt to cheer up his daughter after report cards came out went viral on Twitter this week, touching the hearts of tens of thousands of people.

Shane Jackson explained that his daughter, Sophie, has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This typically means that communication is a hurdle, which can make excelling in a regimented school environment difficult. This year, Sophie struggled with her grades.

“My daughter who has ASD received straights Ds on her report today,” Jackson explained on Twitter. “She cried and said ‘I’ve let everyone down.’”

Jackson decided not to let those letter grades define Sophie, however. He attached a picture of a handwritten report card of his own design.

“This is my reporter card for her,” he wrote. Jackson gave his daughter straight As in categories like “Funny,” “Loves Dogs,” Fighting with the boys” and “Drawing and making robots.” He even added in a couple of A-pluses for “Imagination” and “Best daughter ever.”

The tweet took the Internet by storm. At the time of this writing, it has a staggering 11,799 retweets and nearly 62,500 likes. Both father and daughter were overwhelmed by the unexpected reaction. Jackson wrote that Sophie and his partner were “so upset, mainly because she had tried so hard.”

The replacement report card was not just a success with Sophie. Users on Twitter saw it as a genius act of parenting. Their praise, in turn, inspired Sophie not to let the grades get her down, according to Jackson.

“For everyone who has liked and retweeted this – thanks so much, we are overwhelmed,” Jackson wrote in another tweet later. “Thanks also for all those people who have liked Sophies artwork – we’ve set her up with an account… She would love it if you follow and like.”

Sophie has even taken to posting artwork — mostly drawings and designs, with explanations of how and when they were made. On Friday, she even made a report card for her father as well.

“Hey, I thought I would do a report card for my Dad,” she wrote. “If anyone else wants to do one for their dad or mum, you can reply with a photo of it to this tweet. Should be fun!”

Sophie took a few good-natured shots at her father in her evaluation, giving him an A for “is annoying” and a B for “funny.” However, she showed how she truly felt when she gave him an A-plus for “made me a Twitter account” and another for “Best dad ever.”

“Well, thanks Sophie,” Jackson replied later. “I’m told that a B for funny is meant to be ‘encouraging.’”