YouTuber Divides Opinion After 'Re-Homing' Adopted Autistic Son | 22 Words

A family YouTuber has recently been thrust into the spotlight after "secretly re-homing" her adopted autistic son. With points being raised on both sides of the argument, this incident has left the internet torn. One thing we can all agree on is how difficult this must be for her child.

Keep scrolling to see what the family had to say in an emotional video explanation...

Autism is a life-long developmental disability.

The condition affects how people perceive the world, and how they behave and interact in social situations and with others. It is characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication.

And it is incredibly common.

In 2018, the CDC determined that approximately 1 in fifty-nine children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder here in the States.

There is a spectrum.

And, dependent on where a person sits on the spectrum, the characteristics of autism can vary.

All autistic people share certain difficulties, but being autistic will affect them in different ways.

Some autistic people also have learning disabilities, mental health issues, or other conditions, meaning different people need different levels of support.

And, most importantly...

Autism is not a disease or illness, therefore it cannot be cured.

Autism is generally believed to be caused by genetics.

Research has consistently supported the theory that autism tends to run in families. Changes in certain genes increase the risk that a child will develop autism. If a parent carries one or more of these gene changes, they may get passed to a child.

And it is definitely not a result of vaccines.

So all you anti-vaxxers out there can just pipe down, okay?

Anti-vaxxers have long blamed vaccines on autism.

But scientists have conducted extensive research over the last 2 decades to determine whether there is any link between childhood vaccinations and autism. The results of this research is clear: Vaccines do not cause autism.

And there is no cure for autism.

Autism is not a disease that can be magically irradicated with a course of antibiotics. It is a social disorder with characteristics that, instead of being curable, can be managed and improved over time.

But it seems as if this is still sometimes too much for parents to handle...

A family YouTuber has recently been thrust into the spotlight after she and her partner decided to "secretly re-home" her adopted, autistic son.

Myka and James Stauffer posted a video in which they explained what was going on with their family.

After fans started noticing something a little off with Myka and her son, Huxley, who was adopted from China 2 and a half years ago, they started asking her about it.

That's when she announced that she had "re-homed him."

They explained that the reason why they had to make this decision because Huxley has "special needs that [they] weren't aware of."

In the 7-minute YouTube video titled "An update on our family", they said this:

"With international adoptions, there's unknowns and things that are not transparent on files, and once Huxley came home, there was a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of, and that we were not told," James says.

"So over the last few years, Huxley has been in numerous therapies to try and help him with all of his needs."

"For us, it's been really hard hearing from the medical professionals, a lot of their feedback, and things that have been upsetting, really upsetting for us, because this is not what we've ever wanted to hear. We've never wanted to be in this position. And we've been trying to get his needs met and help him out as much as possible… We truly love him."

With tears streaming down her face, Myka added this:

"There's not an ounce of our body that doesn’t love Huxley with all of our being."

She continued saying:

"Do I feel like a failure as a mom? Like, 500 percent. So when you get insidious, hurtful comments, it just makes it hurt worse. It's not about me at all, it's just this journey, the last couple months have been like the hardest thing I could have ever imagined to going to choosing to do because ultimately, after pouring our guts and our heart into this little boy…"

They did not reveal any details about where Huxley had been placed but they did describe it as his "forever home."

"He is thriving, he is very happy, he is doing really well, and his new mommy has medical professional training, and it is a very good fit."

The announcement was met with intense backlash.

Fans felt irritated and betrayed that the couple had built a fanbase around promoting children with special needs. She's even had sponsorship deals with the likes of TJ Maxx, and Danimals yogurt.

Twitter users were extremely vocal about the decision with a lot of backlash being hurled at the parents.

This one user claimed she was extremely "depressed" upon hearing the news.

Apparently, it was "kept a secret" until now.

"To be clear she pretended he didn’t exist for MONTHS and deleted comments from concerned followers. Finally JUST addressed it today bc people were tagging her sponsors asking why they’re paying someone who, like... gave up their child after gleefully profiting off him for years."

Others have talked about the challenges parents with special need's children face:

Since the couple has 4 other biological children, this factor could easily weigh into their decision. As parents, they would only do what benefits the child's health and safety.

Here's the full emotional video:

We hope everyone involved in this manages to heal and move forward, especially Huxley. If you want to read more about celebrities that are involved with anti-vax campaigns, then keep scrolling...