A strong sibling bond is always a truly special and lovely thing, but when one child is neurodivergent and cannot speak, and the other is neurotypical, an unbreakable bond is that much more incredible. The Instagram @findingcoopersvoice shares the lives of the Swenson family, which includes Cooper, a 13-year-old diagnosed with nonverbal autism, and his 11-year-old brother Sawyer. The family posted a now-viral video where Cooper is practicing saying his brother Sawyer’s name. And the video will have you in tears.
The caption reads, “‘I really want brother to say my name ‘mom.’ The relationship between siblings, when one has nonverbal autism, can look different. So, we practice. We encourage. We celebrate.” And celebrate they did.
In the video, mom Kate Swenson, who also wrote the book Forever Boy, a memoir about raising a child with autism, tells Cooper to say, “Sawyer.” And with every attempt, younger brother Sawyer is so encouraging and loving, giving Cooper hugs and telling him good job.
When Cooper says, “I love you, Sawyer,” Sawyer gets choked up, gives Cooper a big hug and says, “I love you, too, buddy.”
In an interview with TODAY, Swenson said, “Sawyer is a pretty stoic guy, and he cried. He knows it’s hard for Cooper to talk — his mouth doesn’t cooperate. So that celebration you see in the video, that’s real. Sawyer is so proud.”
She also said that the first time Cooper said Sawyer’s name without prompting it brought him to tears and that he’s really proud.
Swenson told TODAY that their relationship hasn’t always been so close, particularly when Sawyer was younger, because he just didn’t understand. “For the first five years of Cooper’s life, he didn’t acknowledge Sawyer,” Swenson told TODAY.com. “Sawyer would ask, ‘Why doesn’t Cooper love me? Why won’t he play with me?’”
But when they moved in 2019, Cooper insisted on sleeping in the same room as Sawyer, and that’s when their relationship started to grow, Swenson told TODAY. She said their relationship is a place of comfort. “They comforted each other and became each other’s person,” she told the publication.
TODAY reported that Cooper communicates with some ASL, a speech device, movies, TV, and text messages. When they gave Cooper a cell phone, it was a game-changer, Swenson shared in the interview.
“We weren’t sure what that would look like for a nonverbal person, but it’s been incredible. He’ll text us like 100 words — and buried in between will be something like, ‘Grandma home in 20 days.’ He let me know he wants to ride the bullet train in Japan,” Swenson says. “All a parent like me ever wants is a glimpse inside their child’s secret world — and we’re getting it now.”
The video has been “Liked” almost 34,000 times. And one comment in particular nailed it. “Sawyer is so encouraging. Something tells me that he will always have Coopers back through life. Why??? Because of the example you set for your family. You Kate are doing it right. Never second guess yourself because ‘You got this.’”
