When Spokane fire Lt. John Goodman took his mask out, 3-year-old Lexi Mortlock buried her face in her dad’s shoulder and started sobbing.
But within a few minutes, Lexi had calmed down and was running around a garage at the Spokane Fire Department’s training complex, happily accepting a toy whale from Goodman.
“The first few times we came, it was her in the corner crying the whole time,” said her father, Mike Mortlock.
Lexi was one of about 10 kids with special needs who visited the station through a program offered by The Isaac Foundation, a Spokane nonprofit.
The visits are part of a larger program called Autism in the Wild designed to help firefighters and police learn about children on the autism spectrum and help children develop positive relationships with first responders.