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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
James Moncur & Jon Brady

Heartwarming moment autistic Dundee schoolboy sings Loch Lomond for classmates

This is the amazing moment a young Dundee schoolboy with autism starts singing Loch Lomond in front of his classmates.

Paul Reid normally sits in class wearing ear-defenders because music upsets him so much.

The seven-year-old, who goes to Kingspark Primary, normally can’t cope with listening to singing, nursery rhymes or even Happy Birthday.

But Scottish folk songs have struck a chord with him and as this heartwarming moment shows they have unlocked his astonishing love of singing.

Writing alongside the clip on Twitter, his mum, Kathleen, said: “This is courage, my 7 year old son who has autism, adhd, pica who couldn't cope a listening to singing ,nursery rhymes, even hearing Happy Birthday without having his ear defenders on.

"Then he discovered scottish folk songs. He is is winning the medal at his school. Clearly….”

Speaking to Dundee Live, Kathleen praised the amazing primary school staff for their unwavering support.

She said: “His teacher in the video is Lynsey Orme and the school and the staff from the teachers, class assistants to the school liason Lori are who put the work in to make this happen.”

And she revealed that Paul’s older brother, Jamie also has a number of challenges.

She explained: “Paul has a brother Jamie, he is 17, he is also autistic, has apraxia, dyspraxia, unmanaged epilepsy and liver problems.

“He went to Kingspark too and is away to go into 3rd year at college and he is amazing.

“He gets his Tom Muir award for Conservation on Wednesday despite all his disabilities, I'm very lucky.”

And describing her day-to-day life supporting her two super talented children she said: “I don't work, I get 2-4 hours sleep a night as both boys have sleep disturbance.

“Jamie's seizures can make him sick and I have to stay up to make sure he doesn't choke.

“I’m on my own and don't have any family so it's pretty intense but as you can see extremely rewarding, they are turning out really well.

“They are gentle, kind and sensitive and really care about others.”

Kathleen also said that Paul wasn’t stopping with Loch Lomond, he is already practising other songs.

She added: “Paul seems to be drawn to Scottish folk and Burns poetry. He loves Flower of Scotland and that's what he is practicing at the moment.

“He nearly has it already - it’s incredible.”

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