Whiz Kid – Meet Grayson Smith

Grayson Smith wears his feelings on his sleeve. Actually the 9-year-old from Hatboro wears his open-mindedness about autism on the front of the royal blue T-shirt that he designed.

As part of a recent fundraiser for Autism Speaks – an advocacy group committed to funding research into the causes of the developmental disorder – Grayson created the winning T-shirt design for , according to Principal Steven Glaize.

“We were all floored by his design,” Glaize said during Monday’s school board meeting, which was attended by a handful of people proudly wearing the pupil’s T-shirt. “The whole school voted.”

And, overwhelmingly,  Grayson’s design led the competition, which featured T-shirt designs from 30 other students, Glaize said.

In Grayson’s graphic, four kids are standing hand-in-hand. The child on the far right has autism and is standing on his head.

“Maybe you need to put yourself in their shoes,” Grayson wrote in describing his design and the broader message of accepting kids who are different. “Their bodies are like puzzles because that is the symbol of autism.”

To date, Glaize said the school raised $496.16 in T-shirt sales to benefit Autism Speaks.

For Grayson, the project provided him the opportunity to do what he loves.

“I love to design shirts,” Grayson said in a note that Glaize read Monday. “So I thought this was the time to do so.”