Jennifer White-Johnson garnered attention from the “Queen of Christmas,” Mariah Carey, after posting a video of her 10-year-old autistic son singing “All I Want for Christmas is You” to Twitter.
Knox, an autistic 4th grader, slayed the rendition at his winter concert. The video went up on December 13 with the caption, “Timeline cleanse if you need one! Knox tonight at his 4th-grade school winter concert singing @MariahCarey ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You.’ #AutisticJoy on full display! My kid is everything! I hope Mariah sees this!!
Timeline cleanse if you need one! Knox tonight at his 4th grade school winter concert singing @MariahCarey ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ #AutisticJoy on full display! My kid is everything! I hope Mariah sees this!! pic.twitter.com/D0uLmgNxJl
— Jen White-Johnson (@jtknoxroxs) December 14, 2022
White-Johnson got her wish. Carey responded on the social media platform, saying that the video made her day.
“Your kid IS everything!!!!!! Knox, you made my day. Your JOY gives me and everyone watching JOY,” Carey wrote. “THANK YOU for reminding me why I wake up in the morning and do what I do. I love you.”
Your kid IS everything!!!!!! Knox, you made my day. Your JOY gives me and everyone watching JOY. THANK YOU for reminding me why I wake up in the morning and do what I do. I love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/iW19QQxBOP
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 14, 2022
Knox and his mother shared a thank you for the appreciation post in return, and the young boy admitted that this was one of the brightest moments of his life.
What he says in the video: ‘Thank you Mariah for making me feel so alive in my life. I’ve never felt so overjoyed in my life, Amen’ @MariahCarey #MariahCarey #AutisticJoy pic.twitter.com/XmeKvOIyjq
— Jen White-Johnson (@jtknoxroxs) December 18, 2022
White-Johnson told Good Morning America that her son’s lively personality and love were something that sh her husband maintained as he was growing up, finding it especially important as a Black kid with autism.
“We don’t want to shush our son, and we don’t want to make it a point to say you’re being too loud when all he’s really doing is being happy,” She told the outlet. “And it’s like, well, he’s still a human being, and he has feelings, and he has emotions that he’s excited to share.”
“And while he’s still navigating this kind of experience that he has, he knows that he’s free to explore what that means for him.”
