Alberta boy with autism made honorary manager of car wash 'he just loves'

An Alberta boy with autism has been made an honorary assistant manager of a car wash "he just loves."

The story of the small act of kindness toward thefive-year-old has touched many people after his parents posted about itto social media this week.

Jude Rudics, the son of Brandon and Hope Rudics,is a superfan of the automated car cleaning service, MintSmartwash, in the southern Alberta city ofLethbridge.He loves the lights, brushes and noises.

"The favourite part is thetricolouredsoap there," Brandon Rudicssaid. "We always scream out, 'unicorn soap!'"

Nearlyevery day this summer, they went through the three-minute car wash asa surefire way to make their son happy even on the most difficult days.

"He just loves it so much that he expects that we're there every single day," his father said Thursday. "As soon as we pull up to the car wash, not even inside it yet, he starts getting excited, all jazzed up to get going."

When the car wash realized how much Jude loved the place, the staff invited him this week for a behind-the-scenes tour of the business, including letting him look through security camera footage that monitors the equipment.

They also made him aname tagand called him an assistant manager.

"He's become one with our team, and I mean, little Jude, we love seeing the black car he comes in every day," Lethbridge Mint Smartwash general manager Shad Nelson said. "We get excited for him almost."

This summer, Jude was going to school across the street, so his father popped into the office to inquire about a membership, as nearly $10 a car wash was adding up. A membership is closer to $30for a month.

"We were going every single day. I was like, I don't know if this is allowed," Brandon Rudics said. "Who needs to wash their car every single day?"

'Little bit different'

One of the staff members gave him a business card, which Rudicsgave to Jude. The boy taped it on his shirt and started saying he worked at the car wash.

The staff thought that was so cute, they invited him to visit. They also made himaT-shirt and hat so he looked more official.

"We hear this quite often, kids love the carwash, but I guess this one was a little bit different," Nelson said. "This helped that kid's day every single day."

Brandon Rudicsposted about the experience on Twitterthis week, and as of Thursday, the story had been liked hundreds of times.

The family started going to the car wash about three years ago, shortly after Jude was diagnosed, but they hadn't made the connection that he used the trips as a sensory experience.

Both parents areboard members for the Chinook Autism Society, and they're now hearing from other parents of children with autism and other conditions otherswho understand the love of suds.

They're working with the car wash to organize a group visit for the other kids.

"I definitely wasn't expecting all this to happen, so it's truly heart-warming to see this local business doing this for us in our own hometown," Brandon Rudics said. "They're a huge support now of our autism community here."

So far, 10 kids have signed up for the tour, HopeRudics said.

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