In a world of uncertainty, cruel tweets, memes and social media posts, one Sharp County father took to social media following a bet with his son.
On Nov. 2, Kelly Newcom took to social media not to rant, but to follow through with his part of a challenge issued to his son, Samuel by opening up and getting feedback from the public.
“Please help me.. so quite a few of you see pics of Samuel, but don’t know Samuel. He has a little issue with colors and texture, so every day is a struggle to get him to wear different things. He literally wants to wear the same thing almost every day. I’ve convinced him to let me take a picture of him and see if everyone likes his outfit and if the colors match. He said if he gets 100 likes, he’ll wear this one again.. if this works, and I pray it does.. this may be a way of getting him to try different things,” Newcom wrote. “He wants to be a Youtuber and associates the likes there with here.”
Samuel is pictured along with the post wearing a smart looking outfit with a Merigold yellow t-shirt, blue jeans and black tennis shoes.
Newcom explained the social media challenge was a healthy way to show Samuel the support for his future reached beyond the walls of his home.
A few weeks prior to the post, Newcom was placed in a difficult position after parents of Samuel’s peers divulged to their children that Samuel was not Newcom’s biological son. While at school, Samuel was blindsided by the news and Newcom robbed of the opportunity to tell his son when he felt the time was right.
“This is my son, Samuel. He’s been a part of our family since he was three weeks old. We adopted him when he was five. We waited that long because it was suggested we give his bio mom ample time to straighten up. He doesn’t know her, just knows her name,” Newcom said.
The daily struggle of texture, color and touch stem from developmental challenges Samuel is working to overcome daily.
“My son has seen many different counselors. We were told so many different opinions about what he may have… RADD, autism, oppositional defiance, ADHD, this list goes on. He shows symptoms of them all. They sent a specialist to test him once… wasted trip. He decided he wasn’t even going to engage with her,” Newcom said. “Samuel is a couple years behind in educational learning and has social skills of roughly a five-year-old. He’s gotten much better at complete conversations, but it’s only what he wants to say. If I meet you in Walmart, he’s more than likely to tell you about a game, say a cuss word, or tell you “my dad is fat”. He loves to tell stories and makes them up as he goes along.”
At the time the photo was posted, Newcom not only reached the goal of 100 likes, but surpassed it just four days later sitting at 722 likes, 159 comments and nine shares.
When asked why he took to social media for the challenge, Newcom said Samuel hopes to one day have a career in social media and at this time, is interested in being a Youtuber.
When Newcom returned home that day, he shared the results with his son and filmed Samuel’s response which was shared with the community who worked to help Newcom reach his goal.
Newcom sat beside his son on a couch while being filmed to show his son exactly what people had to say.
“I’ve never seen this boy ever be speechless.. Thanks everyone for the support. I’m going to let him read all the comments,” Newcom said.
Samuel appeared to be in disbelief after being told the numbers and reading some of the comments and Newcom can be seen telling Samuel now he had to try another outfit the following day.
“Now I’m going to be okay with it,” Samuel replied. “Thank you.”
Newcom also thanked the community for their support and stated there would be more outfits posted in the future.
Although Samuel tends to be set in his ways when it comes to apparel, he did honor the agreement and selected a different outfit the following morning before heading off to school.
After being posted to social media, Samuel’s newest selection received 366 likes and more than 100 comments.
A few days after the initial post, Newcom once again took to social media to explain the history of the relationship he has with his son after receiving several questions from community members.
Newcom explained how Samuel came to be his son, the challenges Samuel faces on a daily basis and more.
“Samuel also has a heart… so loving at times. Speaks to strangers with happiness and will even tell them he loves them, smiles most of the time… He is tough as nails… He builds amazing things out of everything. He has vision and motivation. He’s amazing. He’s my son,” Newcom said. “I appreciate all the support you have all shown with this idea I had to try to get him to wear different clothes. I hope and pray in the long run it’s successful. He’s taken it to his head and wanting to know when he can have youtuber equipment.”
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
