I have been so looking forward to meeting you.
Can I interrupt you for a second?
I just need to take this opportunity to just--
I can't believe we're meeting you.
And--
Yeah!
[LAUGHS]
And you get to hear our story.
And just really, we're so excited.
I never thought we'd ever be in a position
like this sitting across from Robert Downey, Jr. Can
you believe it?
Ah!
Yeah!
Wow.
Well, I honestly when I heard that we were going to meet,
I was like, oh, my God.
It's like-- and my friends are on the show,
and it's fun to do the show.
But this really grabbed me.
So first, I have a few questions--
Of course.
--for y'all.
You're 10 now, had lost the ability
to speak when he was one.
And then what happened when he was four?
Well, we had a lot of red flags that kind of cropped up.
So just behavioral--
His imagination play.
Yeah.
He would just line stuff up.
He would just spin things for countless of hours.
Totally.
Yeah.
And so after consulting with family members--
I have a nephew on the spectrum as well.
And my sister-in-law actually pushed for us to have him
tested for autism--
Excellent.
--and got a confirmed diagnosis.
Wow.
Everybody here can relate to that sense
of wanting to communicate and not being able to.
What did that feel like?
What was your experience of that?
It was painful.
Yeah.
It was really painful for him.
Now that he has a voice, I go back
and I ask him, hey, tell me about what
you were thinking that day, or tell me about this time.
And some of the things he talks about
is not being able to make friends back then--
Oh, sure.
--having the ability not to tell us what's going on in his life.
And then when you were six, something happened.
What--
Yes.
I got a Iron Man helmet.
And what'd that do for you?
It helped me talk and imagination play.
Wow.
Yes.
So it's almost like the mask provided a sense of--
Yes.
--it grounded him, and it allowed him to feel confident.
And within 24 hours, Robert, we saw a different child.
Oh, wow.
It was--
[LAUGHS]
Look at him!
Yeah.
So that was night one.
And see, for me, too, it's so wild in playing this character.
There's something, I think, for all of us
where when you're able to wear a mask,
whether you're doing theater in school or Halloween
or whatever.
I had a particular affinity--
you and I both did-- with this same mask for some reason.
And it gave us a voice.
And why do you think it helped?
Yeah.
Why do you think--
It helped me talk.
It helped me hide my identity from the world.
Yeah.
Oh, my God, you're a ringer!
Yeah!
Look at this!
[LAUGHS]
This is absolutely bananas.
Look at that!
Yeah!
Give me another high five.
I cannot believe this!
Now, wait a minute.
This might have gone too far.
Is it or is it--
what is your dog's name?
Mr. Stark.
[LAUGHTER]
We thought we needed one in the house.
There he is!
And there he is.
Oh, my gosh!
And if you'll notice the collar, it's Iron Man.
Got a Iron Man collar on.
And it has the arc reactor.
And then his little name tag says "Mr. Stark."
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah.
We love you.
We love Iron Man.
We love Marvel.
Aw, I love you, too.
I just-- people always say what will you
miss most about having played this part?
And it honestly is being able to talk
to moms and dads and young folks and see how somehow or other
this had a positive impact on you.
And it just makes all these last years of working on it
worthwhile.
I cannot thank you enough.
Thank you.
Wow!
Woo-hoo!
And I know that there's lots of expenses
for therapy and tutors.
And Shutterfly is this amazing company.
And they like helping people exactly like you.
So they're giving your family 20 grand.
$20,000.
And I cannot thank you--
Did it!
Hi, I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel
so you can see more awesome videos,
like videos of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things
like "ball peen hammer" and also some videos of Ellen
and other celebrities if you're into that sort of thing.
[YELLS]
[SCREAMS] [BLEEP] God!
[BLEEP]