Cillian O'Connor's mother has spoken about how proud her family is after the 13-year-old who credits magic with helping his social skills brought the house down and got four "yeses" on "Britain's Got Talent."
O'Connor, from Mornington, Co Meath, wowed the "Britain's Got Talent" judges and the audience with his performance.
"I've learned that having autism is not a disability, it is an ability," O'Connor said during his performance.
"When I was younger, I was unable to interact with people. I felt a bit empty, incomplete. I felt invisible."
O'Connor said discovering magic was "like a lightswitch" that helped him interact with people.
"Magic is my universe, and my life is now whole," O'Connor said.
Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and Bruno Toniolo - the "Britain's Got Talent" judges - were all blown away by his performance on the premiere of the show's new season.
"Why am I crying?" Toniolo said, "You made us cry!"
Cowell remarked, "There's something really really incredible about you."
Not surprisingly, O'Connor received four yeses from the evidently impressed judges and will move to the next round of the talent competition.
O'Connor was joined on stage by proud mom Elaine Peppard O'Connor after impressing the judges and audience.
After the victorious performance, O'Connor's mother took to social media in praise of her talented son: "Extremely proud of our amazing son Cillian on Britain's Got Talent tonight.
"So glad that people will get to see the Cillian that melts our hearts every day.
"We love you so so much and are so happy you finally got your dream that you have worked so hard for.
"As Cillian said, 'autism is not a disability it’s an ability,' and boy god did he just show us all that this evening."
In an earlier post, Peppard O'Connor wrote: "Dreams really do come true.
"Six years ago our quiet, shy, anti-social, little boy saw a little girl Issy Simpson perform magic on Britain's Got Talent.
"Cillian became obsessed with magic, and he always dreamed of someday being just like that #youngmagician. Tomorrow night at 8:00 on #britainsgottalent you will see him achieving his dream
"We are extremely proud and hope you all get to see just how special he really is.
"Magic is now Cillians world, and boy what a #wonderfulworld it is."
Three years ago, O'Connor's talents came to the public's attention when he become the youngest member of the Society of Irish Magicians at just 10 years of age.
At the time, his father Richie told the Irish Mirror: “His confidence and interaction socially have improved dramatically since he started magic.
“He has learned how to interact and communicate in a way he never did before. He would sit in the corner with a book before this and talk to nobody. It has been a godsend.
“Every time we see the HSE [Health Service Executive] care group he performs for them and they are amazed that he can now do an elaborate trick, where he wouldn’t have been able to button up his own shirt a couple of years ago.”
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