Robert Downey Jr Meets Autistic Boy Who Started Speaking Again Because Of Iron Man Helmet!
What makes Iron Man the best superhero in the MCU? Well, he is a genius, a billionaire, a playboy and a philanthropist too. His character is a little flawed of all the MCU superheroes, but at the same time, he is the most human and has changed lives too.
Iron man hasn't only changed Robert Downey Jr's life by giving him so much love from fans all over the world, but the superhero has also changed lives of many other people -- like that of this 10-year old autistic boy, who started speaking again after wearing Iron man helmet.?
The 54-year-old was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show as a guest host when he surprised 10-year-old Vincent.
Vincent's mother Nicole and father Andy were also on the show, when Robert Downey Jr. asked to them about his story. "I have a few questions for y'all. You're ten now. Lost the ability to speak when he was one and then what happened?"
Vincent's mother Nicole got emotional when she said, "Well, we had a lot of red flags that cropped up."
"His imagination play; he would line stuff up, he would just spin things for countless hours."
The couple then explained that it was after quite some time that it was diagnosed Vincent was on the autism spectrum.
When the Avengers actor asked Vincent how he felt on not being able to communicate, he said it was "painful".
His father Andy, added, "It was really painful for him. Now that he has a voice I go back and I ask him, 'hey, tell me about what you were thinking that day' or 'tell me about this time', and some of the things he talks about is not being able to make friends back then or not having the ability to tell us about what was going on in his life."?
Vincent was six-year-old when he got an Iron Man mask and things changed for the good for him. He then learned to communicate.?
"To me, too, it's so wild in playing this character, there's something I think for all of us when you're able to wear a mask if you're doing theatre in school or Halloween or whatever, I had a particular affinity, you and I both did with this same mask for some reason."
"It helped me talk, it helped me hide my identity from the world," Vincent said about putting the mask on.
Vincent loves Iron Man so many that he has named his dog Mr Stark, complete with an Arc Reactor name tag.?Robert Downey Jr then said that it is because of moments like these that it is hard for him to say goodbye to MCU.?
"People always say, 'What will you miss most about having played this part?' It, obviously, is being able to talk to moms and dads and young folks and being able to say, 'Somehow or other, this had a positive impact on you'."
The Avengers star then presented Vincent and his family with a $20,000 (Rs. 14,15,650) cheque from Shutterfly.
