Self-described “autism parents” who “love their child with autism” have reportedly been left disappointed after discovering there’s no medal for loving your own offspring.
Graeme and Karen Hoyland, both 38, have insisted that they wouldn’t change seven-year-old Finley Rice for the world – “even though most parents would.”
Karen Hoyland commented: “We love Finley just the way he is. Would it be easier if he just did what he was bloody told, like his sister? Yes. But then he wouldn’t be him.”
“Loving Finley is hard work,” agreed Graeme Hoyland. “But we do it anyway – even when he screams the house down because we’ve run out of Coco Pops.”
“We don’t need praise,” added Karen Hoyland. “This is just what any gold-medal-worthy parent would do.”
“This?” Graeme Hoyland said, of the small stage in his living room, staggered at three heights. “That’s just my carpentry hobby. It’s absolutely not a podium. Unless you’ve heard something?”
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