CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ When they were growing up together in Baltimore, Ian Thomas never really considered his cousin, Jahsai, as different until other people noticed.
"We never thought about it. But when he was in school, we knew that other kids didn't think he was normal," Thomas told the Charlotte Observer this month.
Jahsai has autism, diagnosed when he was a child; 1 in 50 children in Baltimore have the disorder and 1 in 59 do nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
"It wasn't a big deal when he was with us _ only when he was at school, in public places," Thomas said. "People didn't know what autism is, or how it would show because there are (so many) different levels of it."
Thomas' parents passed away within a year of each other when he was 8, so he grew up alongside his cousin _ who is a year younger _ as if they were brothers.
"I'd always hang out with him on the weekends," Thomas said. "(He has always been positive), very energetic. Loves to work out, loves competition. Anything we did became a competition _ like who could throw the football the farthest, any sports.
"But when new people would come around, he would go off and do his own thing. They'd ask 'What's he doing?' and we'd try to explain."
As a child and teenager, Thomas became an advocate for autism without realizing it _ simply by explaining the disorder and the autistic spectrum to those who didn't understand or questioned Jahsai's behavior.
But now that Thomas is an NFL tight end entering his second season with the Carolina Panthers, he's expanded his platform far past his Baltimore neighborhood.
This year, he started working with Autism Charlotte, a local non-profit that uses inclusion-based programming to help autistic children, teenagers and young adults. The group also works to bring more awareness to autism and to end the stigma against it.
And it all started with a small gesture Thomas made during the Panthers' 2018 season.
