Thanks to his sponsor, Aidan feels truly connected

Single mum Rebecca has always worked so hard to give her autistic son Aidan all that he needs to survive in the world. But there are other resources and skills — that are vital to help him break the poverty cycle — which Aidan now has, thanks to you.

Caring for two children solo — one with high functioning autism — and budgeting on shoestring for food, bills and school essentials, means life is often overwhelming for Rebecca. For families like hers already experiencing serious hardship, a child’s disability can compound day-to-day struggles with money and education.

Recently, Aidan, 11, accidentally dropped and broke his old iPad. He was devastated. Not only did he need the device for school, but with high functioning autism, the iPad was also essential for his physio and other therapies.

“We scraped together money from wherever we could think of, but we just didn’t have enough to buy him a new one,” says his mum Rebecca.

Relief came when Aidan was offered a Learning for Life sponsorship, thanks to a kind stranger who wanted him to thrive. Soon after, his sister Lucy, 9, was also sponsored. Rebecca could finally update Aidan and Lucy’s uniforms and school bags — and buy the school stationery they’d been going without. 

Meanwhile, Aidan was still struggling without his iPad when something incredible happened: sponsorship enabled them to buy a new device. Aidan was speechless. “Aidan still can’t quite wrap his head around the fact that a complete stranger actually cares about him and his schooling enough to help ease the burden on his family,” says Rebecca.

But despite the best efforts of his teachers and mum, Aidan often struggled with his literacy and lessons, making school extra-tough. 

But thanks to his sponsor, Aidan was able to take part in our student2student program, where he received reading support from a buddy over the phone two or three times a week. He resisted at first — he was very nervous about working with another student. “Please, give it a go — it’s not like reading in front of your classmates at school,” Rebecca encouraged him.

Fortunately, Aidan did try — with excellent results. “It is so beautiful to see the bond Aidan and his reading buddy Zach have,” says Rebecca. “Zach is patient and gives Aidan extra processing time. The program is amazing, and Aidan is far more confident in his reading skills.”

Along with his academic gains, the care of Aidan’s sponsor, reading buddy and Learning for Life Coordinator have taught him something else that makes him feel happy:

“Aidan now understands there are people out there who do want to help and it’s a great lesson,” says Rebecca. “His sponsor even sends him gift cards for his birthday. It’s just beautiful.”