Some fire alarms were going off in an apartment building and the fire department was called out. One of those at the scene was Lt. Mike Rheault. As he was inspecting apartments, he ran into a young boy named Tegan. Tegan acted like he wanted to say something to Mike, but he could not verbalize it because he has cerebral palsy.
On a hunch, Mike then tried something. He used sign language to communicate with Tegan, and the young boy used it back to communicate with Mike. Mike introduced himself through sign language and the two had a very short but very meaningful conversation.
Both of Mike’s parents were deaf, so sign language was the first language he knew growing up. It’s come in handy for him on a few runs with the fire department.
Tegan’s mom, Amy, says it meant a lot to her son and he will never forget it. She even was able to record much of the conversation on video, which has been viewed on social media more than 2,000 times. Amy said she hopes the video will inspire others to reach out to children like her son.
Says Amy: “Talk to all the kids. If you see a kid at the playground who is different or in a wheelchair or doesn’t speak or has special accommodations, they just want to be your friend.”
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