Starbucks’‘Dancing Barista’ Is A Teen With Autism Who’s Inspiring Millions

It’s not every day we hear stories like this next one, but hopefully one day soon it will be…

I came across the following video on the Facebook page Love What Matters and instantly realized how important this sweet simple, story was to share.

The video was posted just a couple of days ago and yet it has been viewed nearly 50 million times. After learning the background story, it’s easy to understand why.

“I would like to introduce you to a teenager named Sam.” the post reads. “When he was offered a position to work at Starbucks Sam told his parents that his life had meaning.”

Sam suffers from both autism and a movement disorder, which makes him sometimes flail about uncontrollably. Even though the manager who hired him, Chris, knew this would make it difficult to have Sam behind the counter, he refused to give up on the teen.

The Toronto Starbucks manager spent countless hours working with Sam to help him channel his movements into dance. Now he’s known – and loved –  by customers as the “Dancing Barista”.

“More people like Sam need to be seen and heard.” the post continues… and we couldn’t agree more.

According to Autism-Society.org, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only about 16.8 of people with disabilities were employed in 2014. As you can imagine, the number of those people who were willing and able to work was much, much higher.

All we need are more heroes like Chris to help change the social stigma and make this dream a reality.