“I like dad.”

Those three simple words changed a Nova Scotia father’s life last weekend, when his autistic son scrawled them on a magnetic drawing toy.

Simon Squire said his 5-year-old son, Corran, had never called him “Dad.” Although the pair played together all the time, the boy didn’t acknowledge Squire as his father.

Then, on the night before Father’s Day, Corran walked up to him and said “Hi, Daddy,” before handing him the toy.

“I was stunned,” said Squire. “It’s still kind of unreal. I’ve been waiting for this for five years.”

Corran was diagnosed with autism in February 2012. He is bright and has a keen understanding of technology, but rarely makes eye contact and is overwhelmed by crowds and loud noises.

He was non-verbal until just a few months ago, when began to say a handful of words, including “Mommy,” but never “Daddy.”

“I was just another person to him,” Squire said. “He’ll let anybody play with him. He’ll show anybody his toys. But he never called me by name.”

Squire, a signal operator with the Canadian Forces in Greenwood, N.S., said he understood that his son’s autism meant he rarely showed affection. But he still found himself jealous of other fathers at times.

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“I used to tell my wife, ‘I understand it may never happen. He may never call me ‘Dad,’” he said, his voice breaking.

“It hurt. It really hurt. I was Dad, but I didn’t feel like Dad.”

Corran is the couple’s only son, after they lost another child late in the pregnancy in 2011. Squire said he and his wife, Amanda-Lynn, are still struggling with the loss.

As well, Squire never knew his biological father, although he said his stepdad was “amazing.” But for these reasons, his relationship with his son means the world to him.

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“I didn’t even care if he never said, ‘I love you.’ I just wanted to be called, ‘Dad,’ ” he said.

Although autistic children show a wide range of characteristics, it is common for them to have trouble showing emotion or relating to other people.

Some, like Corran, can understand complex concepts but not simple ones. He is gifted with electronics — so gifted that he caused his dad a headache when he reprogrammed his cellphone.

After Corran wrote “I like dad” on the toy, Squire snapped a photo and uploaded it to Reddit, where it quickly went viral. Many of the 1,300 comments are written by parents of autistic children.

“I almost fell apart when my on-spectrum daughter responded, for the first time, with the words, ‘I love you too,’” wrote one parent. “I’m so glad he reached out to you in this way. I hope it is a first step of many.”

Commenters suggested Squire write a message back, so he wrote, “I love my son.” But when he handed the toy to Corran, the boy took one look at it and promptly erased the screen.

“He had this look like, ‘Huh?’” said Squire, laughing. “He’s still the same little kid.”

He plans to continue writing occasional messages to Corran. He hopes his son will reply with more of his thoughts and feelings.

“I feel closer to him now,” he said. “I think that he plays a lot of cards close to his chest. I’ve got to encourage him to express that more.”

But despite the challenges of parenting an autistic child, Squire said he wouldn’t change a thing about his son.

“Why would I want to do that? He’s perfect,” he said. “He’s very smart, he’s funny and he has his moments where he’s really affectionate.

“I wouldn’t have him any other way.”

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