PAUL: Albi?
MOLLIE: Albi, look, there's more.
PAUL: White one, wow.
White one. - Look.
- Do you want it?
- [squeals happily, grunts]
MOLLIE: Albi. [laughs]
PAUL: Should we use a rock?
Albi, look.
Albi, ready?
Ah.
Luh.
Bah.
MOLLIE: No.
[chuckles] PAUL: [groans]
MOLLIE: [speaks indistinctly, laughs]
[speaking indistinctly]
PAUL: I've got a little 3-1/2-year-old boy.
He's, um, autistic.
[laughter]
[soft music]
The first 12 months of Albi's life,
he's hitting all the milestones.
He was walking at 9 1/2, 10 months--
earlier than me.
Um, he was copying sounds.
He was clapping his hands on demand.
He was singing songs and doing actions.
And everything was fine until 12 months.
And then Albi starting to regress.
He stopped making eye contact
with me and his mom and anyone, really.
He--he didn't copy.
He didn't try to make sounds anymore.
MOLLIE: Wow, that's a big one.
[chuckles]
PAUL: Bringing him here, he's happy.
He loves just running about.
And it's lovely to just come out and relax and enjoy a bit
of time just in nature, like.
As I say, just as long as we can make
him smile every day, then we're doing something right.
MOLLIE: Where you running to? PAUL: Where you going?
MOLLIE: Where you running to? [laughs]
PAUL: I'm going to get you.
We've managed to get the diagnosis for him,
and we've obviously got things in place
for him going forward in school.
I can't go to bed without feeling guilty,
so I have to try to alleviate that guilt any way I can.
And, yeah, I might be too hard on meself,
but, ultimately, football's second for me.
It doesn't matter.
He's the most important thing for me.
[chuckles] ALBI: Whee!
SINGER: ♪ Don't forget where you came from ♪
♪ Don't forget why you're made of ♪
♪ The ones who were there ♪
♪ When no one else would care ♪
♪ Don't be afraid to cry now ♪
♪ Even when the world comes crashing in ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Don't forget to sing when you win ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Don't forget to sing when you win ♪
♪ ♪
MILLIE: The best part...
Got loads of signatures from the players.
And then I've done some drawing.
I have more, but I give them to the players.
So Aaron Hayden and Lainton.
The special items--
this scarf here, it's from--
this one was from Rob McElhenney.
He did sign it.
Yeah, it's a privilege to be a Wrexham fan.
I love it, wouldn't change it.
My autism means my brain's wired differently.
[soft music]
If my routine changes,
I, uh--I get angry or sad very easily.
Then my next special item would be the bag
with all this training stuff in.
I never used to say I have autism.
I was very disappointed I had it
'cause I didn't fit in.
- Millie didn't sleep, even as a baby.
She slept for two hours a night.
Never cried, didn't really like being held, even as a baby.
She was delayed walking, delayed talking.
And then when she was five, you kind of get to the point
where you think, this isn't quite as it should be.
When Millie was first diagnosed,
the psychologist used the word "complex,"
and that word's kind of stuck with me forever
because it is really complex.
She played, um,
disability football when she was five.
And she was comfortable with the disability football.
And not long after that, she joined Wrexham
when Wrexham began their ladies' teams.
And then she was with them for a few years,
and she had the best time with them.
Um, this--this is where the problem lies with Millie
with attachments,
because that came to an end for her.
The year before COVID,
she got released from Wrexham, and she struggled--
struggled really badly.
Um, so, yeah.
So that was a huge learning curve for Millie.
You were, um...
Yeah, you went through dark times.
- Yeah.
ALISON: It was pretty awful, pretty awful.
I think, you know, we--
as a family, we suffered quite a lot during that time
because we couldn't help her.
But, um, yeah, there was a light, wasn't there,
at the end of the tunnel? - Yeah.
CHILD: I want--I want-- I want to play today.
MILLIE: English.
- I want to him to sign me...
- Yeah?
[indistinct chatter]
- Hi, how are you? - I'm good, thank you.
- Millie sits in our quiet zone.
BOTH: Yeah.
- And she's amazing, absolutely amazing.
I mean, when I first met Millie,
she wouldn't speak to me.
She was very, very, very introvert girl.
[chuckles] You wouldn't believe that of Millie now,
but, uh, she's quite the character.
I tell you something, Millie--
from the Millie that I first met to now
is a very, very different, confident girl.
MILLIE: Thank you. Nice chatting with you.
- Millie bought her first season ticket from Kerry.
I said to Kerry, that day...
changed Millie's life.
[chuckles]
Ben's here.
- Millie, how are you? - Uh, good.
Thank you, Ben. - Good.
MILLIE: Going to score today. - Gonna try and score.
When that--I'll come to that corner where you are.
MILLIE: Yes. - Right, I will.
MILLIE: You're gonna score 200 goals.
- 200? MILLIE: Yes.
But then as the time went on
and I liked Wrexham more and more--Rob and Ryan--
it--it's helped me grow loads of confidence,
made loads of friends.
Hi. - Hello, how are you?
- Yes, I got a game tomorrow. - How are you?
Yeah? Fingers crossed.
Good luck with that, though, yeah?
- Yes, thank you for the follow on my other account.
- Oh, no worries. Hope you enjoy it, eh?
It's good--it's good to see.
- Yeah. - Good.
MILLIE: When I go to see the players,
they're, like, there speaking to me,
making me feel comfortable.
Yeah, great.
I have Ryan Reynolds on my Twitter.
He follows me, and he likes all my posts
about me and my autism
with Wrexham and the quiet zone.
It's great to have that feeling.
♪ ♪
ALISON: Millie having her own seat
next to the same person every time,
the same routine, same stewards
changed everything.
- My name's Millie Tipping.
I sit in something called the quiet zone.
♪ ♪
It's run by the wonderful Kerry.
Thank you. Hope we win.
- Millie's living her best life,
and there's no getting away from that.
She is having the best time at the moment.
And, you know, as parents,
we'll do anything we can to accommodate that.
And I think even having the quiet zone,
it enables her to be who she is,
because they absolutely love her in that area.
I think she is the queen of the area.
It's a place where she can be who she is.
Your mood has improved so much, hasn't it?
You're not in a dark place. You're loving life.
MILLIE: Yeah.
- And that is recognizing that things are different to you.
MILLIE: Yeah.
- You do see things differently.
MILLIE: Yeah.
But, also, you embrace who you are.
You are Millie. You are Millie Tipping.
♪ ♪
[guitar strumming off-key]
PAUL: Whoo.
Good songs.
[strumming continues]
- [grunts]
PAUL: Good jump.
- [babbling] PAUL: Oh.
Where's your football gone, love?
[indistinct chatter] Where's your football gone?
Should we find it?
What you want?
Me shoulders?
[grunts]
Since I moved back home,
I've managed to spend a lot of time with Albi.
I noticed unbelievable progression in him.
He--he follows instructions now
if I ask him to get things.
Or I could go ask him, does he want to go in the garden?
Want to stand up?
- [babbles] Yeah. PAUL: Yeah.
All right, then.
Go on, then.
Can you touch the sky?
Oh!
He's a happy lad,
enjoys every single day.
He makes me smile.
[roars playfully, chuckles]
[grunting goofily]
He doesn't talk. He's nonverbal.
But he might as well talk,
because I know exactly everything he needs
and when he needs it.
And, you know, he's a joy.
I wouldn't change him for the world.
But sometimes it's just difficult when he's not well
and he can't tell you why or something's annoying him
and you can't help him.
Stand on Daddy's feet?
Sometimes you just turn round, and he'll say, Dada.
[voice breaking] And that's something that...
I just love to hear it.
It makes me cry every time, to be honest with you.
Um... - [babbles happily]
PAUL: [normal voice] Spin, spin, spin.
Hug, hug, hug. Whoa, got you.
[laughter]
Every day I come in, I put pressure
on meself to try and teach Albi something every day.
Sitting here? Okay, then.
Right, high five.
And the other one.
[smooches]
[chuckles]
If you're going through a tough time with your partner,
for the sake of your child, and, you know,
you feel like yous have to break up 'cause you're always
at each other's throats because it is tough,
then believe me.
If you can stay for your child and stick together,
it'll only help them and benefit them.
And you can work through it, you know.
It just--it takes work. It takes effort and...
There's the beach. - [babbles]
- Wow. Come on, now.
- [babbles] - [giggles] Come on.
- No, it's fine. It's, uh-- I'm not bothered, really.
Just... [inhales sharply]
No, I'm all right.
It happens all the time, anyway.
I'm used to it now. [chuckles]
Knew it was coming anyway. Just stuff, you know.
[chuckles, breathes deeply]
PERSON: Five, six,
seven, eight,
nine, and ten. ALBI: Ten.
- Yeah. - But he doesn't talk.
He just done it out the blue the other week.
- Oh, but that's so good, though.
- We were sat in the kitchen at me mum's,
and he was just counting fruit out of the fruit bowl.
- Yeah. Just doing it?
- I've never heard him do it before.
I just looked up. I was like, what the fuck?
Where's that come from? - Oh, my God.
- And then now he just--
he recognizes the numbers and everything.
- Yeah, then it, like, goes great, right?
Like, with every kid, right? - Fully.
- You got told a lot, oh, don't look at the future.
You live day by day, and you do.
You get through every day, but you need to know
that you're doing the best that you can for her.
But there's nothing to measure that against, so...
- And I'll be doing.
ALISON: Millie's 17.
So, in 17 years as parents,
Millie has, um, never told us she loves us.
Even as a child, never held your hand,
didn't want physical contact.
We made a lot of mistakes but learned on the way.
It's a really bad feeling as a parent
because you feel like you're failing.
And that's really hard because you're a parent
and you just want to help her.
But you can't because she doesn't want you to.
And that's--that's really hard to accept.
[Millie speaking indistinctly]
PERSON: W-what's this for?
- It's for Mullin and his son, Albi,
because he got diagnosed with autism.
And because I have it, I wanted to do something special
to show that Mullin's not alone and Albi's not.
It's--it's like a superpower.
I don't--It shouldn't be seen as a disability.
It should be shown as a superpower.
ALISON: Paul Mullin has been absolutely fantastic
with Millie.
When the announcement came out about his son,
obviously, being diagnosed with autism,
I think that was a bit of a turn for Millie as well.
MILLIE: He got those boots made with the autism thing on it,
so now I can, like, look up to him and talk to him a bit.
I used to be quite scared talking to Mullin.
PAUL: Yeah, I posted the boots because there's so many people
in the world who feel guilty.
They feel like it's their fault.
They probably feel lost. They feel like there's no help.
I thought if I could help one person
to be able to deal with their child's diagnosis
and help them to accept the child--
'cause I know it's not easy.
MILLIE: We do the chant--
"We've got Mullin, Super Paul Mullin."
So I've done one--
"We've got Albi, Super Albi Mullin."
ALISON: To actually know someone else
who has a youngster as well,
and I think Millie kind of thought she could be a help.
- Basically, I put this one on,
then Mullin was doing that as well,
and his son was doing that.
So they're, like, the same, and that by his name.
Then the A for Albi or "autism."
Then I did the heart and then them two together.
- It's kind of given Millie a focus as well.
- So, basically, this is a goodie bag for Albi.
This is, like, a Paw Patrol blanket,
'cause I have autism, too, I like soft things,
so I thought he might like soft things.
I have one of my fidget toys, what I love,
so I think he will love it.
So then I have one, like, little star pop-it.
This is, like, a little stress-ball thing.
Then I did him a drawing of him and his dad.
So hopefully he'll like it.
♪ ♪
ALISON: Oh, I'm not even parked straight.
MILLIE: Oh, well. ALISON: Oh. [laughs]
- Let's go see Mullin.
[indistinct chatter]
[chanting] Let's go see Paul Mullin.
Hi, Humphrey.
HUMPHREY: Hi, Millie. You all right?
MILLIE: Yes.
[indistinct chatter]
[grunts softly]
[chatter continues]
PERSON: Got your spot?
- Got my spot.
[upbeat music]
- Right. I see you.
PERSON: How are you today?
- Yeah, good. - [speaks indistinctly]
♪ ♪
MILLIE: Phil Parkinson. - Thank you.
- Thank you. Got it.
MILLIE: Can I have a picture, please?
- Of course you can. - Thank you.
[Alison speaks indistinctly]
- No worries.
MILLIE: Can I have a picture, please?
- Yeah, yeah, no worries. MILLIE: Thank you.
[indistinct chatter]
- Hash--hashtag "United." - They don't know who he is.
- Hopefully I get to score, mate, again.
PERSON: Bye. - Bye.
PAUL: See you later. All right.
ALISON: They don't know. You're right?
- Anywhere?
PERSON: Yeah, anywhere will do, won't it?
♪ ♪
- Come on, Mullin.
- Are they? Good stuff. - Yeah.
ALISON: Millie? Perhaps Paul will come round here to do it
where there's a bit more room.
- How are we, Millie? - Hello, Mullin.
- What have you got this time? Wow.
That's lovely, that. MILLIE: I got you--
I got Albi a gift.
It's stuff-- what I use to calm me down.
PAUL: Really? You shouldn't have.
MILLIE: Yeah. - Why?
MILLIE: 'Cause I don't use them.
- Thank you so much.
Can I have a hug to say thank you?
- Okay.
- Thank you so much.
I think Albi will be so happy with this.
[camera shutter clicks] - Thank you, Paul Mullin.
- Gonna have fun? Do you think we're going to win?
- 5-0. - 5-0?
- Can you fake a penalty?
[laughter] - Don't say that.
I got enough abuse the other night for getting that foul.
- Can you dive us into League 2?
- Every time I score now,
I'm going to make an A sign like that for Albi.
[cheers and applause]
But, also, it's quite cool to-- an A for "autism" as well.
So whatever people want it to be for them, that's perfect.
Obviously, for me, it's for me little boy.
[upbeat music playing]
[cheers and applause]
[stadium announcer shouts indistinctly]
[cheers and applause continue]
ALL: Wrexham!
[sound muted]
[muted cheering]
[soft music]
♪ ♪
[soft music]
♪ ♪
[child giggles, seagull cries]