{"id":16858,"date":"2026-03-10T13:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/her-autistic-sons-magical-trip-on-the-polar-express\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:02:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:02:28","slug":"her-autistic-sons-magical-trip-on-the-polar-express","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/her-autistic-sons-magical-trip-on-the-polar-express\/","title":{"rendered":"Her Autistic Son’s Magical Trip on the Polar Express"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLook at this,\u201d I said to my husband, Lloyd, handing him my phone. \u201cThe Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel in Flagstaff has a real-life Polar Express<\/em> train.\u201d When he pressed \u201cPlay,\u201d the ad burst to life with a train whistle.<\/p>\n

Our 18-year-old son, Ty, ran into the room and grabbed the phone from his dad. Ty stared at the screen, a huge smile forming on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want to ride the Polar Express<\/em>?\u201d Lloyd asked.<\/p>\n

Ty nodded.<\/p>\n

From the moment he was born, Ty was different. He never cried, not even to eat or have his diaper changed. Tests showed damage to his frontal lobe. He was diagnosed with autism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We took Ty to one therapist after another, trying to find someone who could help us. I quit my job to stay home with him. The meltdowns started in his toddler years. Ty couldn\u2019t speak and struggled to communicate. He threw himself down and banged his head on the floor in frustration. I would try to hold him, to protect him. But Ty didn\u2019t understand. He fought back. He was three years old when he headbutted me in the face and broke my nose.<\/p>\n

One of our doctors encouraged us to put Ty in a home for children with severe disabilities<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but he will never be able to do anything for himself,\u201d the doctor said. \u201cIt would be best for everyone if you institutionalized him.\u201d<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t something Lloyd and I were willing to even consider.<\/p>\n

In 2009 we moved to Arizona for Lloyd\u2019s job. I worried what the change would mean for Ty. When we met his new teacher, I explained about his outbursts. She\u2019d worked with students like Ty before, and their parents. She taught us how to recognize when Ty was getting agitated and what to do.<\/p>\n

When I saw the signs of an impending meltdown, I stood directly in front of him without touching him, spoke softly and slowly moved him away from whatever was upsetting him. It worked wonders. Within just a few months, Ty\u2019s violent meltdowns had decreased dramatically.<\/p>\n

That same year, my mom gave Ty a picture book for Christmas, The Polar Express<\/em>. I\u2019d never seen him connect with something so strongly. I read the \u201cchoo-choo book\u201d to him multiple times a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cChoo-choo!\u201d he\u2019d cry excitedly.<\/p>\n

Since Ty said only a few words, I treasured each one.<\/p>\n

They\u2019d made The Polar Express<\/em> into an animated movie, starring Tom Hanks<\/a> as the conductor. We\u2019d bought Ty the DVD. He loved the song \u201cHot Chocolate\u201d and hummed it even when it wasn\u2019t playing. He learned to recognize Tom Hanks\u2019s voice in other movies. He watched The Polar Express<\/em> so often, we wore out the DVD and had to replace it. When we got Ty a service dog<\/a>\u2014a shepherd mix\u2014they watched The Polar Express <\/em>together. Ty\u2019s interest hadn\u2019t waned to this day. So when I saw the Polar Express<\/em> ad on my phone, I just knew we had to go to Flagstaff to see the train in real life.<\/p>\n

We booked the holiday trip many months in advance. I planned everything down to the letter, even purchasing matching pajamas for Ty and his service dog. Ty was so excited that we had to make a calendar to count down the days.<\/p>\n

The drive was long<\/a>, but when we checked into our hotel room, a surprise awaited. Ty was thrilled to see that our window looked out over the railroad tracks.<\/p>\n

This is going to be the best trip ever<\/em>, I thought.<\/p>\n

We ate in the hotel restaurant, then we went out to the train platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll aboard!\u201d the conductor called out as the Polar Express<\/em> pulled in.<\/p>\n

Ty stiffened. He was reacting to the loud noise and bright lights. Before I could do anything, Ty dropped to the ground, put his hands over his ears and screamed. People backed away and stared.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t seen a meltdown coming. <\/p>\n

Ty banged his head on the ground. His service dog moved toward him, but I wanted to handle this on my own.<\/p>\n

Lloyd held the dog as I tried to talk to Ty. He swatted me away, then pulled off his shoes and threw them.<\/p>\n

\u201cTy, can you do this?\u201d I said softly. \u201cCan you get on?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually he calmed down and we moved toward the train. But there were people in line ahead of us. We\u2019d have to wait a little longer.<\/p>\n

Ty dropped to the ground again. Instead of deflecting him from the source of his frustration, I tried to coax him up. I knew how much he wanted to do this. I was sure that if we could just get him on the train, everything would be okay.<\/p>\n

When it was our turn, the staff tried to help, offering to use the wheelchair lift to get Ty on. I could hear his dog whimpering behind me. With a jolt, I saw tears streaming down Ty\u2019s cheeks.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d only seen my son cry actual tears one other time in his life, when he\u2019d said goodbye to his grandpa before we moved to Arizona. I\u2019d pushed Ty too hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you need to go back to the room?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n

Ty threw himself at me and hugged me tight. I looked at Lloyd and shook my head. \u201cIt\u2019s time to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

I handed Ty to Lloyd and walked ahead of them toward the room. I didn\u2019t want Ty to see me crying. I felt like a terrible mother. I should have taken cues from Ty instead of pushing him to do something that was too much for him.<\/p>\n

That night, as I was reading The Polar Express<\/em> to Ty, someone knocked on the door. It was the train conductor. He asked if he could come in and talk to Ty. My son\u2019s face lit up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really sorry you couldn\u2019t get on the train,\u201d the conductor said. \u201cBut I have something special for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He handed Ty his pocket watch, a replica of the one in the movie. I\u2019d never seen Ty so happy.<\/p>\n

The next day, the railway invited us to come back, free of charge. They made some accommodations, giving us a private train car with softer music and dimmer lights. With a rare dusting of snow on the ground, Ty boarded the train with his service dog. I watched in awe as he interacted with the conductor and with Santa. He\u2019d gotten his dream trip on the Polar Express<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We all had.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLook at this,\u201d I said to my husband, Lloyd, handing him my phone. \u201cThe Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel in Flagstaff has a real-life Polar Express train.\u201d When he pressed \u201cPlay,\u201d the ad burst to life with a train whistle. Our 18-year-old son, Ty, ran into the room and grabbed the phone from his dad. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":27120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[24,40,213],"ppma_author":[1903],"class_list":["post-16858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-stories","tag-christmas","tag-holidays","tag-son"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHer Autistic Son’s Magical Trip on the Polar Express - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Her Autistic Son’s Magical Trip on the Polar Express\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cLook at this,\u201d I said to my husband, Lloyd, handing him my phone. \u201cThe Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel in Flagstaff has a real-life Polar Express train.\u201d When he pressed \u201cPlay,\u201d the ad burst to life with a train whistle. 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