Rivertown Mall Santa Has Heartwarming Interaction with Autistic Boy [Video]

The Santa Claus at the Rivertown Mall in Grandville, MI, recently showed one little boy an inspiring amount of love and care. 6-year-old Landon has autism, and he approached Santa a few days ago to share his Christmas wishes.

According to Naomi Johnson, Landon's mom, "He said his peace to the old man in red and walked away. While [his aunt] waited for pictures to print, he went back to Santa bc he wanted to tell him that he has Autism. He was flapping his hands, all excited to let Santa know that he has autism."

Santa then rubbed Landon's hands to calm him down and asked Landon if having autism bothered him. When Landon said it sometimes did, and sometimes people confuse Landon's autistic behavior for naughtiness, Santa assured Landon that he is a very good boy. Santa told MLive, "I said no one is naughty; we are always trying to do better. There are no children on the naughty list. They are all on the good list."

Santa and Landon chatted for another 5 minutes before parting ways. Naomi Johnson's Facebook post recounting the interaction has since gone viral, and many are offering their love and support, for both Landon and Santa. Johnson said, "Someone at school said to [Landon], 'I think you met the real Santa,' and he said, 'It kind of felt like I did.'"