Autistic girl broke down after getting straight Ds, her dad made her a special report card

Autistic children often face unique learning challenges as their brains process information differently. School can be overwhelming for them, with the sensory overload and pressures of assignments and tests. In June 2018, 10-year-old Sophie Jackson, who is autistic, was heartbroken after bringing home D’s on her report card, feeling like she had "let everyone down." That’s when her father, Shane Jackson (@ShaneJacks), decided to create his own version of a report card to cheer her up.

Sophie was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at the age of three, per The Mirror. When she returned home with a report card containing poor grades, her father didn’t want her to feel bad about things beyond her control. “Sophie and my partner were so upset, mainly because she had tried so hard,” Shane wrote.

So, Shane did something out of the ordinary to cheer up his little girl and created "his" report card which highlighted Sophie’s good qualities, skills, and strengths. Unlike the school’s report card which highlighted what she was not good at, this report card focussed on what she was good at. The remarkable report card handwritten by him and titled “Dad’s report card,” comprised entries like “funny,” “loves dogs,” and “drawing and making robots,” for which he gave Sophie an “A.” In other entries like “Imagination” and “Best Daughter Ever,” Sophie received an “A+.” Shane's idea worked and he recalled that the smile on her face was “extraordinary.” He also told HuffPost, "She loved it and has been so upbeat since I gave it to her."

Shane posted a screengrab of this report card in a tweet that instantly went viral with more than 56,000 likes and 1,300 comments. “My daughter who has ASD received straight Ds on her report today. She cried and said ‘I’ve let everyone down.’ This is my report card for her,” the father wrote in the tweet, and people praised him for his supportive parenting. “Classy. Well done. Hope she’s rebooted,” commented @tcamerontodd. @vinumaloes said, “Undoubtedly a more fair assessment with high-quality rubrics applied.”

Lauding Shane further, @Que3m wrote, “Good job parenting & helping Sophie see there is more to life than official reports.” Shane also reflected that “Report time can be hard, just need to focus on the positives of each child and focus on each of their unique skills.”

To inspire his daughter further, Shane created an X account (@SophieJ36713466) exclusively for Sophie’s artwork and invited people to follow it. Just two days after receiving her “dad’s report card,” Sophie came up with the idea of creating a similar report card for her dad. “I thought I would do a report card for my Dad,” she wrote in a tweet. Titled “Sophie’s report card,” the card included entries such as “is annoying,” “loves me,” “makes me a twitter account,” “funny,” and “best dad ever.” Sadly, he received a “B” in “funny” but didn’t do so bad, as he scored an A+ for being the best dad ever.

@dramelaladwani commented on her post writing, “Both of you (the dad & the daughter) are amazing. This situation is very inspiring for many parents.” @franallard said, “I wish my daughter made a card like this for me.”