“Old Town Road” brought a quiet little boy out of his shell.
Four-year-old Daniel Brundidge shocked his mother, Sheletta, when he randomly began singing the viral hit on Tuesday. Little Daniel is usually non-verbal due to autism, so his mother wasn’t expecting to hear her baby sing.
We had an #oldtownroad miracle at my house. My son Daniel has #autism and doesn't talk. We caught him humming the @LilNasX and @billyraycyrus tune the other day. Then Bless God, my baby started singing the song on his own. His therapists have started to use it in his sessions! pic.twitter.com/vtCNWeg6ax
— Sheletta Brundidge (@TwoHauteMamas1) June 4, 2019
You know what he's doing while singing #oldtownroad in that video? Opening and closing the buttons on my "duster". Because of Daniel's #autism, he can do that for hours without saying a word. So when he started singing @LilNasX's part of the hit song, I was blown away! pic.twitter.com/63lukgdEPZ
— Sheletta Brundidge (@TwoHauteMamas1) June 5, 2019
"We had an #oldtownroad miracle at my house,” Sheletta tweeted. “My son Daniel has #autism and doesn't talk. We caught him humming the @LilNasX and @billyraycyrus tune the other day. Then Bless God, my baby started singing the song on his own. His therapists have started to use it in his sessions!"
Lil Nas X caught wind of the video and happily shared it.
what a king https://t.co/EWZLUliV3n
— nope (@LilNasX) June 5, 2019
“What a king,” he wrote.
Daniel comes from a very unique family. He is the youngest of four children and two of his older siblings are also on the autism spectrum, according to a profile by Insight News.
We are available for a play date with @LilNasX! Kids are out of school and are available any time except noon and 2. That's nap time and anybody with kids knows that's sacred. But at 2:01 we are ready for karaoke! #welisted
pic.twitter.com/kQN30wv45T— Sheletta Brundidge (@TwoHauteMamas1) June 6, 2019
The family’s journey started when Sheletta and her husband Shawn noticed something was different about Brandon, their second child. Her family told her he would “grow out of it” and was against her seeking help because “you don’t want them labeling your child.”
The concerned parents sought help anyway.
“But you know your own children, and something just wasn’t right,” Brundidge recalled in December. “So, I went on Google and I did research and what I found showed that Brandon was exhibiting signs of autism.”
Brundidge didn’t know much about autism and assumed the worst.
“I was devastated. I thought it was a death sentence for him,” she added. “I thought that was it; no hope, no college, no kids. I got really depressed.”
Brundidge eventually stopped feeling sorry for herself and started doing research and found resources for Brandon, 6, who was followed by his 5-year-old sister Cameron and Daniel. Years later, the kids are thriving.
“Each of my children receive 40 hours of therapy a week. Brandon and Cameron are in regular classes, and Cameron was the Student of the Month last month – not the Special Student of the Month, but the Student of the Month,” Brundidge said.
“Daniel is reading on a first-grade level. You can’t be ashamed; you’ve got to get on top of it early.”
