Because Jason is just 5 feet 9 inches tall, because it was his first chance to play in a varsity game, because he has worked selflessly all season as the team’s student manager, and most of all because he refuses to let his autism define his vision of who he is and what he can do—for all of those reasons, Jason was swept up triumphantly onto the shoulders of his teammates and friends that night in mid-February.

Dozens of movie offers, professional team offers from as far away as Europe, TV appearances, a meeting with President Bush and other dignitaries, and countless awards and local and national recognitions keep rolling in.

Jason’s beleaguered family finally hired the famed William Morris talent agency to field all the calls and offers.

“I was stunned,” said Jason’s dad, New York State Public Employees Federation member Dave McElwain, a section head in the sales tax division of the state Department of Taxation and Finance in Rochester.

It wasn’t Jason’s brilliant performance that surprised McElwain. “Jason’s very passionate about basketball. He shoots hundreds of baskets a day,” McElwain said. Rather, it’s the way the world responded that takes his breath away.

In a shotgun e-mail response to more than 60 congratulatory messages he received from co-workers, McElwain said: “We just thought he was going to suit up and he might get to play. Who could have dreamed what would happen that night?

“The next day there was a short article in the paper on the game and Jason’s name was mentioned as scoring 20 points. I was overjoyed. I cut out the article and we had our basketball memory. I thought that was the end to it.

“The next day, I went to Albany for a meeting. While I was gone, the local stations came to school and interviewed him. The next thing I know he is on CNN, ESPN and the CBS Evening News.…

“The kids on Jason’s team and the students in his school have been super. Their support for Jason was the true story and the reason this story has touched everyone.”