THE POWER OF 26 LETTERS

My son's split-second decision may have changed a stranger's life

- Susan Baker

On my son Andrew's 15th birthday, I whisked him to a shoe store near our home in Toronto to get a pair of sandals. We knew the exact style and size he wanted, and arrived right when the store opened. Andrew is nonspeaking autistic and prefers shopping when it's not busy.

"Size 41 of those black slip-on sandals, please," I told the clerks.

Andrew slipped his feet into the shoes with no protest or head banging (signs of distress we have seen in the past). A perfect fit. We boxed them up, paid and thanked the clerks.

"It's Andrew's birthday today. Fifteen! Got our new shoes and now we're off to celebrate with family," I said.

"Happy birthday!" they said. "Have fun!" What comes next only happens when you act on intuition, when the voice inside says to stop and do things differently. Instead of having Andrew point to the "thank you" symbol on his picture chart, I hold up his letter board.

For 10 years, Andrew has used a picture chart to communicate. The images represent important and common words: people, places, food, greetings and activities.