Family of autistic boy left 'speechless' at school principle's hidden letter

A primary school principle sent an autistic student home with a surprise letter and present to congratulate him on his efforts at school, leaving the child's family crying with happiness.

The primary school principal, from America, proved what it takes to be a fantastic teacher with their creative approach to encouraging the student, much to the delight of his family.

Maihiihi School principal Glenn MacPherson snuck a gift-wrapped parcel and a letter into student Cam Uden's school bag, ready to be discovered once he got home.

Cam's father Jason was so overwhelmed with the kindness of the gesture he tweeted the letter for the world to see, gaining hundreds of likes and retweets.

Alongside the image of the hand written note, he wrote, 'Maihiihi primary have adopted our quirky son who has Autism with such love and acceptance This came home today #speechless #autism'.

The letter reads:

'Cam, I have been very impressed with your attitude and development since you started here at Maihiihi. You are like our overseas pro, you offer our school so much in many different ways. This little gift is future focused. It will not fit you now but when it does I would like you to look me up and come and tell me what career path you have chosen. I am guessing it will be something to do with technology, maybe computer programming or game design!! Maybe even a job that doesn't exist yet. - Mr Mac'

The note came with a sports t-shirt, belonging to Northern Districts cricketer, Ben Laughlin .

Jason and his wife were overjoyed by their son's progress after admitting he has tried five schools before finding one that he feels comfortable at, 'The school has accepted all of his quirks magnificently and all of the kids are great to him... Before he was born I took for granted he'd have friends and when that didn't happen at first it was heart breaking, but now he's found his place.

'It has given us hope for his future. We've gone from hoping to knowing he is going to have a proper, functioning life and that is thanks to Glenn and the school.'

The letter clearly means a lot to the family, 'I was so proud when I read the letter I got choked up, but Cam didn't know how to handle it at first. When my wife, Wendy, got home she got teary-eyed and cried some happy tears. That's when it hit Cam too I think'.

Speaking to stuff.co.nz, Mr Mac himself explained his reasons behind the gift, 'It can be tough for kids like Cam in the education system. Autistic kids do find their place in the world, but it can take them a bit longer.

'I've seen a huge attitude improvement and development in Cam. He's one of the crew here, he just thinks about stuff a bit different.'