Life can be tough for just about anyone. That is especially true when it comes to making friends or finding a romantic partner. One you're out of grade school, it gets even harder. Your only real options are to find a coworker who is a decent enough conversation and cling on for dear life.
These problems with making friends or finding romantic partners only gets compounded when you have a physical or mental ailment that makes you different from others. Not only do you have to deal with the fact that people may not understand you, you may not have the tools to navigate relationships either.
This can lead to people with certain conditions like autism to feel like they are all alone in the world, or at the very least, they might be missing out on experiences they didn't even know were an option. That's how David Bloch felt. He has autism and asked his family "would someone like me?"
David Bloch is a 21 year old man, but believe it or not, David Bloch has been silent for most of his life, rarely ever talking. That's because David Bloch has autism. Ever since he was young, he would only speak when someone spoke to him. That all changed last week when he asked his parents a question out of nowhere. That question was, "would someone like me?" The question is heartbreaking.
His 61 year old mother, Kerry Bloch, posted the question on Twitter to see what reaction she would get from the community. "My 21 year old autistic son has no communication skills. Today he asked me his first question ever. It was. "Would someone like me?"" While the internet can usually be a harsh and cruel place, she was swarmed with positive replies.
The positive messages rolled in quickly. Kerry Bloch instantly told her son about all the positivity he was receiving. She told TODAY, "He can't get the communication part out, but when I told him, I said, 'David, you have friends." I've read every single reply and message to him. We've been up day and night for the last six days trying to answer every single message and tweet. He'll be looking at a picture and say, 'Nice, pretty, funny.'''
The positive messages came from all types of accounts, even animal's Twitter accounts. A Twitter user named Alice Caffrey responded, "My grandson is a 7 yr old, he's autistic too, this year he started to speak a little. He told me he loved me. My heart soared. Today my heart soars for you, please tell your son I would definitely like him. Hugs."
David was sent over the moon when he got a response from his favorite football team, the Jacksonville Jaguars. He watches their games every week, so when they responded to David with a video saying they'd want to be his friend, he was in tears. He ended up watching the video over and over. Another athlete, Joe Ingles of the Utah Jazz, even invited David to a basketball game. David's social life has suffered because of an immunodeficiency disorder, rather than his autism.
"He's never been around friends, he's never been to parties or anything like that. I just feel like he missed so much because of that immune disorder." The whole thing has had a positive impact on David. According to his mother, one night after receiving the messages, he came to her before bed and said, "trust people."
