Via CBS News:
Cobey Thomas cannot stop using his custom-built swing set. Cobey, who is 6-foot-10 and 200 pounds, has nonverbal autism, and swinging is his “thing,” his mom Jenifer Thomas tells CBS News. He’s always been big, but there was a point when Cobey became too big for normal swing sets, and he was distraught.
“We always had a big swing set in the backyard, or we’d go to the park … Cobey had no interest in sitting still,” Thomas said. “But then he started getting really tall.”
The 23-year-old from Knoxville, Tennessee graduated from school in 2018. He used to swing at school, but toward the end of the school year, his mom noticed he started getting welts on his legs. “He would come home and there would actually be blood on his blue jeans,” Thomas said. “He’s nonverbal, so he couldn’t tell me what was wrong, but I could kind of tell.”
After watching her “gentle giant” try to swing at a local park, Thomas knew her theory was right – he was now too big for typical swing sets. She told Cobey he couldn’t swing any more or he would get hurt, and he was devastated. Because he is autistic, Cobey doesn’t do well with change, his mom said. Losing his ability to swing caused behavioral problems, which included not sleeping. Thomas knew she had to do something.
“I thought the easiest thing to do is to start making 200 phone calls,” Thomas said. She called every contractor and handyman she could, hoping one would be willing to build her a custom swing set.
“I’d say, ‘Well, he’s 6’10”, 200 pounds, he functions on maybe a 3-year-old level,'” Thomas said. “They’d go, ‘Oh heck no.'” Thomas said she kept getting turned down, but she kept calling different contractors day after day. “It became a vendetta. It became a mission,” she said.