Meet the four-year-old autistic boy who loves nothing more than to be a Disney princess
Evan with Snow White at Disneyland. (Instagram/@eekaluvsdisney)
A four-year-old boy with autism named Evan McLeod who lives in California is going viral for Instagram posts of him wearing Disney princess dresses to Disneyland.
Evan, who lives in Orange County with his mum, loves Disneyland, princesses and wearing dresses.
Evan’s mum, Eeka Rocha McLeod, told CBS News that she takes him to Disneyland every single week.
And although it initially took her a little while for her to embrace his love of dressing up as Disney princesses, she’s now fully on board with his desire to recreate various princess looks.
“I thought at first he was confused,” McLeod said, “so I kept showing him the knight outfit, and he was adamant that he wanted [to be] Snow White.”
The family – McLeod has two other children – are regulars at Disneyland, with many of the park’s staff recognising Evan, including the actors playing princesses like Snow White and Cinderella.
And the foursome post about their Disneyland adventures on McLeod’s Instagram, which has more than 11,000 followers.
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McLeod adopted Evan out of foster care, and he had experienced many complications – his birth mother was a drug user and he was born prematurely. As well as being diagnosed with autism, Evan has microcephaly “and global developmental delays”, McLeod said.
“His muscles are weak, he’s only begun talking recently and still struggles with speech, and his social interactions are always a little unique,” she said.
While she admits that she struggled at first with Evan’s autism diagnosis, she now thinks that his quirks are “fabulous”.
“It didn’t take long for me to realise that Evan’s way of thinking and behaving wasn’t so different from most children,” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “The only real difference is he tosses a whole lotta FABULOUS into everything he does.”
“I want Evan and all my kids to know that they are loved and accepted for who they are and will always be.”
She continued: “As a parent I choose to encourage confidence and kindness because that’s what ultimately makes the difference in the lives and hearts of kiddos like mine.”
