Viral Post Shows ‘Special Needs’ People Are Individuals Too

West Columbia, SC (WOLO)–  “Quite a jokester, he loves to laugh,” Adrianna McCullar described her younger brother. 

Reuben holds the title Happiness Coordinator at his big sister, Adrianna’s office, and for good reason. His laugh can light up a whole room and he was the life of the party, booging down at his first Night To Shine Prom.

“You don’t get opportunities like that every day, so to have him be celebrated for all of his abilities, that was pretty great,” McCullar said of the experience.  But that magical night ended on a sour note, when Adrianna said a teenage girl came into a restaurant, and although the girl probably didn’t plan on being a bully, became one.

“One girl, kind of singled Reuben out, and pointed and encouraged the other girls to laugh and stare,” McCullar said.  Now, Reuben’s story has been shared more than 30 thousand times.  In Adrianna’s viral post, she said “you are going to miss out on a lot of fantastic people with an attitude like that.”

“I just felt moved to kind of, use a negative experience and turn it into a positive experience. One to maybe educate and encourage people to have conversations with their kids about those with disabilities and special needs,” McCullar said. 

Adrianna said Reuben is now a self-declared celebrity. Not because of his social media following or his riches, she said “it’s because he spreads happiness and joy wherever he goes and people love him for it,” and had that teenage girl taken the time, she’s certain she would’ve seen how awesome of a man Reuben is.

“Everything that we do has a cause and effect. And that’s one of the reasons I really felt moved to post what I did,” McCullar said.