Graduation Crowd Silent for Student with Autism 

Just going to say, the people shaking their hands in the air is the sign language for clapping.

People came here from Snapchat I came here because of RU-vid recommended this.

can we please mention how great that the principal gave Jack a fist bump instead of a hand shake and that he also gave him a huge bag of sour patch kids it really shows how well he has gotten to know Jack over the years.

I don’t know about anyone else, but when his classmates stood, like a silent standing ovation, I cried. That’s how you show respect for someone without needing to make noise. 🧡

Principal: don't cheer or clap Student: doesn't cheer and clap Principal: THIS IS MIRACLE

I love how he goes straight for the sour patch kids and leaves his diploma. Mate, I think we are very alike 😂

I loved that mom who clapped in ASL as he walked up. It shows respect to him and made me smile seeing people knowing ASL.

it reminds me of my little town. i have autism, and every parade, they'd stop blowing their sirens when they passed me. when im walking to the store and someone starts their car, i hear that engine, i cover my ears. but, the guy turns off his car to wait for me to pass. my graduation ceremony, the principle asked me if i wanted to not come to the ceremony and instead recieve my diploma in the mail. but, i said no. people who brought the town fair bought me noise canceling headphones, and kept them in one of the booths for me. i honestly couldnt ask for any better town.. when im in college, i wont be moving away, i just love it here

I can imagine all the theatre kids in the back doing jazz hands like crazy

You could see how he was braced for the noise and didn’t like to take his hands away from his ears, even in the silent room. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to go through life in such a noisy world.

As the mother of a special needs daughter who has other disabilities this has me in tears. His classmates are incredible young men and women who were clearly taught kindness and inclusion. I can only hope that when my 8 year old gets older that others can show her this kind of support and kindness.

As an autistic adult, this has me sobbing like a baby. So much respect.

He covered his ears like he was expecting them to clap. But they respected his needs and stayed silent, but they still honored him by standing for him. What a beautiful moment.

let’s be real, nobody searched for this... but watched to the end.

This batch of Carmel Highschool is extremely mature and sensitive to the needs of others. They respected the needs of their fellow autistic student. My niece could not attend her high school graduation because it would have been too much for her to handle. Carmel High School administration and staff should be commended for being compassionate and understanding.

This generation of kids is so freaking amazing. They have respect for anyone and everyone in a way most people can't even recognize yet

My peers wouldn’t stay silent if you took away their vocal chords

I am actually surprised that nobody screamed when everybody else was silence.

The principal of this school is an outstanding leader and educator. What a magnificent act of kindness and support to the graduate and his family. The unity of his graduating class is priceless. These individuals make me have hope in a brighter future. Congrats to everyone.

I never thought I would appreciate a silent RU-vid video like this so much, but this just melted my heart

I love how tht one teacher is cheering in asl

Principal in 2020: Ok everyone go on mute.

This was more riveting, more intense, more emotional and more inspiring than any film or television drama could ever be...the lump in my throat is telling me that. What a terrific class; I wish that each and every one of the students -- especially Jack --are experiencing their hoped-for success.

Found this completely by accident. The compassion almost made me cry. They clapped for him so that he couldn't hear it. That in itself showed their love for him. ❤

Who would think silence speaks the loudest.

Our world is getting increasingly more noisy. Autistic people aren’t crazy, theyre more sensitive to it.

When reading the title, I thought that they weren't clapping because they didn't care. I have never been so happy to be wrong

I know this has been a few years ago, but I cried through half of this video. The students standing for this young man gave me a little bit of hope for our future in this country. They were not told to stand, they just did it. ❤❤❤❤❤ I have a 5 year old with severe autism, and people can be so cruel and judgmental so this was amazing to watch.

What a miracle, they silenced without having a teacher to tell them several times.

no one searched it, but we all loved it.

As a mum of a child with Autism, this brought tears to my eyes. Congratulations Jack! And well done to the Class of 2019. Much love to you all. ❤

IN MY VIEW The fact that ALL the student were respectful and considerate for their fellow student Jack Higgins speaks volumns!❤

Oh I thought they were being mean by not clapping when I was reading the title

When humans act like humans it’s the best ever.

My 2 year old brother has autism and often gets overwhelmed when he hears loud noises. I pray that one day he will be able to have classmates like these ❤️

These young ladies and gentlemen were true friends to this young man! They did wonderful by not clapping. ❤❤❤❤

Having a grown child with autism , the respect this school have shown made me cry.

If my school did this, kids would would laugh and make fun of the kid. This school set a great example!

The wheelchair ramp instead of stairs too. This school does everything right 🙌

Bless all of this young man’s fellow classmates, staff, families, and friends for respecting his needs. The world is cruel, but I’m glad he was able to experience his graduation in comfort.

I was thinking that there would be that one kid who forgets and starts to clap and cheer

When the stood up for him, tears filled my eyes. Young people are too often underestimated.

Why can the world not be like this, respectful, caring and just like this. It is so amazing to see

im actually crying wow. the respect and kindness the students have for that amazing boy. its just that the schools that ive been in have not been so nice to special needs children and teenagers and to see this was heartwarming.

People who clapped in sign language or just slow are the real MVP's here.

I LOVE HOW THE OTHER STUDENTS CLAP THEIR HANDS SILENTLY

Why can’t more people be like this? Have this incredible level of respect! It’s really not hard to be respectful and doesn’t take that much effort. Bless his heart and very belated congratulations. 🎈 🎉

This brought me to tears. I love how respectful everybody was. Congratulations to Jack and to all the 2019 graduates. Special group of young men and women 💗

at my school we have something called a “silent wave” for assemblies where instead of clapping, you wave both of your hands. i think i saw a teacher doing it in this video.

Anyone else click this like "What the fk? How rude!" and then realized "ohhhhh, its because he needs it to be quiet," then almost cried when they stood and did the ASL sign?

That student body should be very proud of themselves. Such a pure and gracious act.

RESPECT to EVERYONE in that auditorium! Congrats to the entire class!

My school would literally start screaming moaning and clapping in a seconds

I love that they respected his needs and honored him by standing up. Respect

I'm not fond of graduations because of how long one has to sit through for the ceremony. It is exceptionally moving how, not only highly respectful the students, staff, and all those in attendance were to the kid, but how patient and graceful they were to sit through a ceremony that had a dedicated part of it for the student in complete silence. The amount of restraint and consideration is felt in the silence, what support. It's things like these that give us hope and encouragement in our every day lives. I hope people live each and every day with this much intention and thought, to be so kind and respectful with each other.

They were so kind and considerate of his needs. It gives you a bit of hope in a dark world.

if you were confused about the people doing “jazz hands” because in sign language that is like cheering and clapping

The principal fist bumping him is one of the most wholesome things I've ever seen Small cheesy edit: also I just wanted to say, I myself am autistic and I love the fact that the principal was willing to make the kids stay silent to make the student's experience better, there's not a lot of times people will be willing to respect others with mental issues or just others in general, so understand that if you know someone who loves you and will go out if their way to do stuff for you to make you comfortable, cherish those people and let them know how lovely they are, sadly there's a lot of people who would go out of their way to annoy others like that, but it won't work out in the long run, disability or not, everyone deserves to feel special and not hated for being themselves

If you watch the crowd you won’t find anyone smirking. That’s amazing.

Brags tears to my eyes. Hats off to Carmel High Seniors for demonstrating awesome respect. I am retired (68 years old). My generation is in the good hands of these young people.

Literally never heard a room of anyone of any age be this quiet for any reason 😳😳😳😳

When they went " ", I felt that 👊🏼😔

Was 2019 … watching this ceremony in 2023 ❤ Respect, emphaty and love will always make the difference in the world. Just love it!

As the sister of two autistic young men this makes me so emotional. This school was beyond compassionate and you’ve got some amazingly sweet students. God bless

You could tell those kids adore him. When it showed them up close they had the nicest smiles on their faces as they stood.

I love how his classmates honored the requested silence and stood for him after he got his diploma. This kind of respect is so inspiring. Yeah, crying here.

that's my generation right there!! Classes of 2019 baby!! WE DA BEST!!

When the silently stood up, my tears rolled

everyone: silent, happy for the boy in his success all the babies: *my time has come*

My little brother is autistic, he’s graduating highschool next weekend, and I’m so proud of him. He goes to a school with students like these, it’s so amazing to see other young adults acting with such care and compassion for others, no matter what their needs are. I’m sure not every one of those students are saints, but they did all give this young man the respect he so much deserves. And moreso, every one of those kids stood up and and gave him a silent standing ovation. That is just so beautiful. I’m glad to share a generation with other like-minded individuals such as these ones.

Kudos to the graduating class. I commend all of you for being respectful, caring young adults. All of you brought tears of joy. I, as a human being, would like to thank you again for being decent human beings.

Everyone was silent when I graduated, but I'm not special needs...

Hundreds of people silent for minutes all to respect one person. And thirty people in my class can’t bare one minute silence for everyone who died in wars. Also I have mad respect for that school

I lost it when those kids carefully stood up. What an amazing school

As a special education teacher, this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Everyone wins in this situation. Absolutely precious. ❤️

i was scared that they all would suddenly start clapping for him.

i felt like i had to be really silent while watching this.

The fact that they actually listened and were respectful about it

Chills when they all stood up. Props to the young men who started the standing O!

I started tearing up when the students started to stand for him. They set the example for the adults to stand too. What a beautiful gesture 😭

When they stood up... I AM NOT CRYING MY EYES ARE SWEATY

This touched my core. What a wonderful community.

God bless this school district/students. Warmed my autism mama heart to see such compassion!!

My son wouldn't walk or take part in his high school graduation. He has Asperger's. I wish all schools would do this.

It's also respectful how he says Jack is sensitive to noise instead of saying autistic 👍😭👍😭❤️💚💙

Brings a tear to my eyes and I am 58yo That was very touching . God bless Jack God bless the class of 2019 ,

Amazing they did this for him & his family.the silent ovation had me bawling. So happy for him that they accommodated him so he could participate. I hope more places take this as an example to follow.

When I read the title I thought they just didn’t want to cheer for him and I came here to be pissed but this was so much better than I expected.

i thought this video was about a crowd not liking him and that’s why they weren’t clapping, im so happy that wasn’t the case

Now this, this is what we need more of in the world. Such a simple thing that doesn't cost you a penny, but is priceless to the person you're doing it for.

I love that more people and places are becoming aware of sensory issues. Its great that everyone can participate and the level of respect was heartwarming.

I have never cried watching any movie but me having a 15 yr old autistic son who will be graduating in 2 years this is exactly what I would want for him as he is very sensitive to loud noises, this video hit me inside as I chuckled with tears inside thinking this day would be him. Congratulations to this young man and much respect to the school and peers for respecting his condition.

My autistic son started high school this year and seeing this brought tears to my eyes. 💙💙

Although this was 3 years ago, as a mom of any Aspie, this brought me to tears. I remember when my son walked. This brought back so many memories. Thank you for the compassion❤❤❤❤

His graduation after eight difficult years was a great achievement. He deserved all the respect given to him for his courage and persistence.

*Although they couldn’t make noise or applaud they all stood for him to show some form of congrats* ♥️

so cute, he got the candy and was like "im out!" lol his brother or whoever it was had to take the diploma

Bravo for this school and it’s students who exhibited empathy and respect!

Wow standing ovation! God bless all the graduates- looks like to me that they were off to a great start by the school honoring this special young man.

I bawled like a baby. Not just for Jack and his hard work, but for the compassion of his fellow students. Well done, kids! I'm so proud of ALL of you!