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At homecoming, and in friends' eyes, Linden teen with autism is king By Patricia Montemurri Detroit Free Press Staff Writer When he was younger, Danny Leideker's

parents wondered whether their only child would ever have any friends. Danny has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, which affects his ability to interact

with others, to look them in the eye, to pick up on when it's appropriate to be loud or quiet. It was very appropriate Friday for Danny to be loud, as

he rode in a convertible with a crown atop his head and paraded through Linden's downtown as the Linden High School 2012 homecoming king. Tonight, Danny

will attend his first high school dance. He'll join friends in a 40-passenger limo bus, enjoy dinner and head to a party at the high school. But the 18-year-old

homecoming king's main joy wasn't the honor, or the sash, or the crown. I got to be in the parade," he boasted before Friday night's homecoming game, which

Linden won over Ortonville Brandon, 40-0. Danny's rise to the top of the Linden High School social scene didn't start as a prank or a pity party for a

kid with learning disabilities. The journey really started with eighth-grade lunch and the friendships that formed there. At the time, Danny was working

with a counselor on the goal of making friends. At recess one day, hanging out near the basketball hoop, Danny said hello to Eddie Walterhouse, a good

student and strong athlete. He asked, 'Would you guys like to sit with me at lunch? Eddie recalled. Eddie and his basketball buddies sat with Danny the

next day, and many lunch days since. Finally," Wayne Leideker said, "in the eighth grade, my son had some friends. Danny called Eddie, "My best buddy.

For two years, Danny attended another school before Linden High added a specialized program, which Danny enrolled in for his junior year, reuniting him

with his friends. Eddie -- who stayed in touch with Danny through the years -- and other friends arranged for Danny to become the manager and water boy

of the Linden High Eagles football team this year. The team and other friends help Danny navigate through the cues that dictate proper behavior, which

elude some people with Asperger's. His friends also have embraced Danny's enthusiastic and pleasant nature. Danny's father says the friends have changed

his son and broken through autism's barriers. They found a crack in his bubble and climbed right in," said Leideker, 54, a Rockwell Automation technical

consultant. That's all these kind of kids need, someone to pick them as a friend. And what a difference it can make. He has changed my life Eddie nominated

Danny for homecoming court. A wide receiver on the varsity squad, Eddie also was nominated. But he said he was prepared to turn over the title, had he

won, to Danny. Eddie visits Danny at home in Linden, where Danny has constructed a city landscape from blocks, Legos and other play sets. It's Danny's

own town, and Danny is mayor," Eddie said. The teens play cops and robbers in Danny's city. Or they play "battle," a game in which they stack soft blocks

and shoot them down with Nerf guns. I win," Danny said. He's a good shot," Eddie replied. Eddie remembers a few instances when other kids have seemed puzzled

by his friendship with Danny. They gave me that look that he was different. I turned my head," Eddie said. They didn't know what I knew about Danny. Danny

is a genuinely happy, caring person, Eddie said. He has changed my life," Eddie said. He's shown me that there's more than football and school and games.

And don't judge a book by its cover. Danny often has trouble keeping a lid on the range of his emotions, his father said. When he is happy, for example,

he's supremely happy. Once at a football game, the players and staff were introduced onto the field. As Danny's parents escorted him, his stride grew faster

and he broke away from his folks and leaped into the arms of the school principal, Russ Ciesielski, wrapping his legs around him. Last week, Danny jumped

into the outstretched arms of a cheerleader after Linden's victory against Flint Southwestern. But if you pay attention, you can see the small ways his

friends help. At the Linden powder-puff game Wednesday, the senior girls gave Danny some pompons to cheer them on. Danny shook them in joy. When the national

anthem was played, his friend Shaye Brown, the varsity quarterback, jogged over to remind Danny to put the pompons down as a sign of respect. At football

games, Danny totes water bottles, gently directed by the athletic trainer, Shari Oole. The team takes him into huddles sometimes, and coach Denny Hopkins

sometimes will use Danny to demonstrate a play. Being part of the team means a lot to Danny. He goes to the pregame dinners, where the boys fuel up on

spaghetti. When they win away games, Danny rides the bus home with the team, where pizza is the treat. He's part of the family As soon as the homecoming

nominations were announced two weeks ago, classmate Kirstin Hendricks posted a "Vote for Danny" message on her Facebook page. My phone just started pinging

like mad within seconds because so many people were giving it a 'like,' " she said. There's no doubt it bubbled up from the kids," said Ciesielski, the

principal. It's something they rallied around -- a sense that he's a Linden Eagle and he's part of the family. It's what education is all about. Linden

High typically crowns its homecoming king during the powder-puff football game between junior and senior girls. At halftime at Wednesday night's face-off,

an announcer introduced the nominees. Danny already had answered a round of questions for the homecoming program and the announcement. His parents had

a hard time getting him to answer the question about whom he admired most. They tried to explain the concept to him, suggesting maybe there was an astronaut

or a president he could pick. I was getting ready to turn it in without answering it," said his mother, Janet Leideker. Then he came out of the bathroom,

brushing his teeth on the day that it was due, and said he knew the answer. At the powder-puff game, Danny's name boomed out over the loudspeaker. He jumped

up high enough to be nearly carried for a moment by his parents, who escorted him onto the football field. The announcer said Danny dreamed of going to

Disney World, and that he chose his late Grandpa Joe, who took him fishing, as the person he'd like to most spend time with again. Then the announcer named

the people Danny most admired: "The Linden Eagles football team. That's when quarterback Shaye Brown started crying. So did Eddie, and pretty much most

of the kids who rushed Danny after his name was announced as homecoming king. My heart dropped, and I was just filled with tears when his name was called,"

said Eddie. I'd been praying to God -- please let Danny have it. Ohmigosh. I won. I won," his father recalled Danny saying, as he gripped the hands of

his parents. As last year's king placed a puffy crown on Danny's head, Danny jumped into his arms. Never in a million years would I have guessed this would

happen," said Janet Leideker, as she watched students joyously swarm her son, chanting, "We love Danny. Julie Brown, Shaye's mom and principal of Linden

Middle School, where Danny first met his friends, watched the emotional display. It makes up for that story in West Branch, doesn't it? said Brown. Last

month, students at Ogemaw Heights High School nominated sophomore Whitney Kropp to the homecoming court as a joke. But headlines across the country touted

her courage in standing up to her bullies accepting her spot on the court, and West Branch rallied around her. Danny's friends say they will make sure

he enjoys his first school dance. Danny's never danced with a girl," his dad told seniors Kirstin Hendricks and Gabby Tomaszewski. We're just going to

take him and let him dance," Gabby said. We'll all take turns dancing with him, so he knows what it's like," Kirstin said. Keeping connections Wayne Leideker

was told by a parent of another autistic child that these types of friendships don't last beyond high school. Kids scatter to college, with new pursuits,

and they make new friends. Danny's secondary education will take place at the Genesee Intermediate School District's Transition Center in Flint. The focus

will be on building his skills and looking for job opportunities for him. Wayne Leideker says he believes that in the age of Facebook and other social

media, Danny can stay connected with his high school friends. Danny's father has told Eddie and others that he's counting on them to stay in touch, so

Danny has "still got a tie to them. But Danny is enjoying the present. He reigns as homecoming king. He got to be in the parade. I waved to all of my cousins,"

he said Friday. I liked seeing my friends. And now, Danny doesn't have so much trouble looking people in the eye. Contact Patricia Montemurri: 313-223-4538

or pmontemurri at freepress.com