It isn’t always easy to be a teenager. Think back to the awkwardness that surrounded the school dances when you were younger. Social situations, like a school dance, often leave out the students who have special needs. One lucky teen, however, ended up going to her school dance with one of the Chicago Bears.
This unique experience happened due to a series of seemingly unrelated events. First, J.T. Thomas got drafted by the Chicago Bears football team, in the sixth round of the draft, last month. He is a linebacker. J.T. Thomas lives in West Virginia, where he helps out his parents and younger siblings.
One of his siblings, Jared, is seven years old. Jared is autistic, and rides a bus to school that is designed to accommodate children who have special needs. J.T. likes to interact with his brother Jared, (as well as his other siblings), and often helps Jared get on or off his school bus, before or after school.
Another student who rides this bus is a 14 year old girl named Joslyn Levell. She is on this bus because of where she lives, but also because she has spina bifida. This birth defect can be either mild, or severe. The exact cause of spina bifida is unknown, but there are some experts who feel that the cause is both genetic and environmental.
Those who have a milder form of spina bifida may not have many problems. More severe forms of this defect can involve nerve damage that has a direct effect on the daily life of the person who has it. The person could have little, or no, feeling in his or her legs, feet, or arms, and may have difficulty moving those parts of the body. Joslyn Levell is confined to a wheelchair.
It was the driver of the school bus, Jacob Tennant, who decided to connect the teen and the linebacker. He told Rochelle, the mother of J.T. Thomas, and also of Jared, that there was a “young fan” who rode this bus. He asked Rochelle if J.T. would sign some autographs, and introduce himself to the students who rode the bus. This event is when Joslyn was able to meet J.T. Thomas. She told him that she had been turned down by a boy that she asked to be her date for the dance.
Rochelle, using her “mother’s instinct” got the feeling that Joslyn was hoping that J.T. would take her to the dance. She got permission from the school to have J.T. Thomas attend the eight grade dance. I am assuming that she must have made arrangements with Joslyn’s parents, as well. The result was that eight grader Joslyn went to her school dance accompanied by J.T. Thomas, linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Joslyn Levell says she was “super excited” about this.
Image by Zooomabooma on Flickr