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SPOKANE, Wash. - For one local family, skateboarding has turned into a story of acceptance and friendship.
"When you go to a place for the first time with a child with special needs, you undergo a lot of isolation sometimes because you don't know what to expect," Stephanie Sharp said.
Sharp is the mother of an 11-year-old named Christian, who's on the autism spectrum.
Recently, their family decided to visit the Hillyard Skate Park so Christian could give skateboarding a try.
"When we were first here, we had some kids who kept saying look out kid look out kid!" Sharp said.
As it turned out though, Christian was a natural.
"When you don't have the filters with autism and there's so much input coming in at you, to do a sport that creates output–he's creating output and releasing energy. He's able to express himself," Sharp said.
Sharp let the other skateboarders know that Christian has special needs, and the way they responded warmed her heart.
"From that moment on, they let the other kids know that he was special and they looked out for him on the course," said Sharp. "I was just so impressed by the way the kids kind of embraced my kid, and the skating community embraced my son."
Sharp was so impressed in fact, that she took to Facebook to sing their praises.
Her Facebook post caught the eye of Jake Koberstine, who's an administrator for the Hillyard Skate Park Facebook page .
"I saw a video of Christian skateboarding, and saw that he had talent and he was comfortable on a skateboard," Koberstine said. "Then upon zooming in a little, I saw that his skateboard was a little lackluster and that he'd do a lot better with better equipment. It makes all the difference."
Koberstine reached out to Stephanie, and offered to buy Christian a new skateboard and some sneakers.
"Within 48 hours he did exactly what he said he was going to do, he was a man of his word," Sharp said. "That right there is impressive. There are people who say they want to, and then don't. It's the follow through that I was really impressed by."
"He was super happy, he didn't even have shoes on when he came to grab his skateboard," Koberstine said with a smile. "He just hopped on it and ran and started riding barefoot. It was cool."
Koberstine says skateboarding has given him so much over the years, and he just wants others to feel the same joy he does.
"My dad always thought it was just punk kids who went skateboarding, but I don't think he realized the true scope of the community," Koberstine said. "A great thing about skateboarding is if you make friends skateboarding, you don't even have to speak the same language. You can go to another country and hop on a skateboard and have something in common."
They've now been back to the skate park to skate together a handful of times since.
A newfound friendship–all sparked by a Facebook post and an act of kindness.
"I didn't know anything about him," Koberstine said. "I didn't know he was on the spectrum or anything, not that it makes a difference, but I just saw a kid that was riding a skateboard and saw that it made him happy.
"When you say something positive, it's a ripple effect, it goes out and touches many lives," Sharp said. "That's what I feel like this skate park is doing for my son and for our community."
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