Viral moment of Gus Walz cheering dad at DNC brings awareness to neurodiversity
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00:00Yeah, last night this was one of the most talked about moments from the convention.
00:05The son of vice presidential nominee Tim Walls.
00:08You could certainly see the emotion on his face there as he listened to his dad speak
00:12last night.
00:13Our Sade Gray shows us how the teen is helping people understand his condition.
00:18Tearful cheers from 17-year-old Gus Walls as he watched his dad, Minnesota Governor
00:23Tim Walls, address the convention.
00:26The 17-year-old yelled, that's my dad, as he stood, tears streaming down his face and
00:32pointing to his dad.
00:34Walls calls his son's condition a secret power.
00:37Neurodiversity in general is that very unique way that individuals learn and experience
00:44the world around them.
00:45Amanda Timmerman is a speech-language pathologist at CST Academy.
00:50She says a neurodivergent person is a person on the autism spectrum or someone whose brain
00:55processes information in a way that is not typical of most individuals.
01:00It depends on the child and it depends on the individual.
01:04Some individuals may be non-speaking, however, they have other modalities of communication
01:08that we really provide and strive to support them with.
01:12Gus's parents disclosed to People magazine that their son has a non-verbal learning disorder,
01:17ADHD and an anxiety disorder.
01:20Occupational therapist Samantha Duff wants people to know there's nothing wrong with
01:24being neurodivergent.
01:25I think sometimes there's a stigma.
01:28We see families come to us and these kiddos have an autism diagnosis or ADHD and there
01:35have been situations where maybe they've been told that something about their child needs
01:39to be fixed.
01:40Duff says that's not true.
01:42Their children are perfect the way that they are and we're here to support them as a family
01:47with whatever they feel like is important for them.
01:50Reporting in Lincoln Park, Sade Gray, CBS News, Chicago.
01:55That was so powerful last night.
01:57I mean, just the raw emotion and the pure pride.
01:59I think as any parent, when you watch that and you think of your own children and at
02:03some point saying, as they point to you, that's my dad or that's my mom, it was a really special
02:09moment.
02:10And I love that there's this awareness now, this willingness to understand his conditions
02:14and realize, as they call it, his superpowers.
02:17So that's incredible.