Watch as autistic teenager walks unassisted for first time in eight years
By Care News,

Viral footage shows the moment a teenager with autism walked without assistance for the first time in eight years.

Brandon Neal, 17, from North Texas, had an operation to fix a deformity that left him confined to a wheelchair in 2011.

Eight years later, his parents were faced with the choice of buying him a new wheelchair, or investing in therapy to help him walk again.

Brandon worked with Daniel Stein, from Special Strong, for three months before they decided to venture outside and see if the teenager could walk again.

The video he filmed has been seen by more than 10 million people.

During the clip, Brandon asks: “Are you proud of me?”, to which Mr Stein replies: “I’m so proud of you, man!”

Mr Stein told the PA news agency: “It really wasn’t planned. We just decided to go outside to see if he could do it, and he did.

“On the first training session, Brandon told me ‘I want a girlfriend but no-one likes me because I can’t walk.’

“Now he has gone back to high school and he’s no longer using a wheelchair, he’s walking independently – sometimes with a walker, but on a recent trip to a theme park he didn’t even take that.”

However, Brandon is determined to keep going, and hopes one day he might be able to run again.

Mr Stein said: “I am honoured to play a small part in helping him reach his goals. I am proud to be a part of something that’s truly miraculous.”

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