“My goal was to study until the fourth period, it was the time necessary for him to socialize, but he did not let me give up and we were together until the end.”
When one becomes a father or mother, the last thing you want is for your children to suffer. However, you can’t always be by their side or bubble them away from the world. For this reason it is time to let them fly and experience things outside the home and at school.
Even so, there are small groups of childhoods that cannot develop in the same way. Children with special educational needs face a host of other problems in their school readiness. This is how many parents need to be there for them or it is more difficult for them to let them go.
Luis Felipe Soares, a 47-year-old Brazilian man, is an industrial technician and lives in Vitória with his partner and son, Lucas Weberling. When Lucas was 12 years old, he was diagnosed with the autism spectrum, specifically Asperger’s. Throughout his school and high school years, Lucas was bullied and teased for being different.
Due to his condition he was also a victim of discrimination and prejudice. So when he expressed to his parents his desire to be a lawyer like his mother, they felt that there was no other option but to support him in his university life.
Despite being the father of three children, the remaining two being younger than Lucas, Luis Felipe decided to enter the university to study with his son. In 2016, Luis enrolled at the same time as Lucas on the campus, knowing that his presence would help strengthen his son’s confidence and ability to socialize.
When Lucas appeared in the classroom in front of his classmates, he revealed that he had Asperger’s and that they did not have to see his condition as a limitation: “We evolved as people and as a society through coexistence and inclusion,” this young man later said that He is currently 23 years old, some time after that memorable moment.
“I was very nervous and anxious to go back to school, even more so in an area that is so far from mine, since I am an exact graduate. But Lucas calmed me down with his serenity. My goal was to study until the fourth period, it was the necessary time for him to socialize, but he didn’t let me give up and we were together until the end (…) Lucas was another student in the class. All the work and tests were done equally. He completed the course with his effort”
– Luís Felipe Soares to Noticias UOL–
After years of effort and study, both managed to graduate from law school at the Espírito Santo Law School, in Vitória, receiving their diploma in February 2021.
Despite the fact that one of Luis Felipe’s main concerns was his son’s social skills, Lucas had no major problem. It could be said that the father was more nervous than the son himself. In fact, when classes went virtual thanks to the pandemic, Lucas even missed his classmates.
“The first day of school I was shaking. He was very anxious to know how things would be, how to handle it. It was all too new for everyone. At first it was very difficult (…) There is no barrier that he [an autistic person] cannot reach. If you help him and have someone believe him, he can change the world. Honestly, I think that’s what the world needs: More people like us. More people who believe in people, who make them believe that the world, despite being huge, becomes small because of the number of people who will help you throughout your life. If you have that, I think you can do it all.”
Now they only have to take the exam of the Brazilian Bar Association. Both have lost their fear and are confident in their abilities to show the world what they are capable of.
