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Young boy with autism has ‘time of his life’ watching shutters close at Tesco

A young boy with autism had “the time of his life” after he was invited into his local Tesco to watch staff open and close the shutters.

Jack Barber, 11, from Maltby, South Yorkshire, has been fascinated with electric shutters from an early age and had asked his mother to take him to the supermarket to watch them at closing time.

His aunt, Sue Bledman-Alleyne, wrote to the store and they invited Jack in at closing time so he could see the shutters open and close, before giving him his own Tesco T-shirt and a bag of treats.

I love this little guy so much ❤️❤️

Posted by Sue Bledman-Alleyne on Monday, July 20, 2020

Ms Bledman-Alleyne told the PA news agency: “It’s such a simple thing to do, but it’s made his dream come true to see a shutter open and close. He is fascinated with where it goes and how it comes out – I think because it is so big and then it disappears.

“The shutter operates from the outside of the store. After they gave him a mask and hand sanitiser, they took him and showed him where the key has to go and then they took him outside.

“He watched it go up and down, and then the manager asked if he wanted to see it again, and so she did it again.

“My sister said she was so patient and so good with him, she did it numerous times. The manager’s face was just beaming watching Jack because he couldn’t stop grinning and clapping.”

Jack has already asked if he can go back for his birthday in January, and now the family are keen to see if any other stores would be happy to let Jack go along at closing time.

Ms Bledman-Alleyne shared the story on a local Facebook group, where it received hundreds of likes and comments praising the store.

She said: “Jack has been patiently waiting for his Tesco T-shirt to dry, and his mum promised he could wear it tomorrow, and he said ‘What if anybody recognises me? I am famous now’.”

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