For his son, this mother's arm has become a voice that cannot turn off.
Hunter Fletcher is 11 years old, he is autistic and does not speak. But this, like his mother Jessica keeps to point out, does not mean at all that you do not communicate.
Hunter manages to express itself through gestures, some signs, a phone and above all an Increased and Alternative Communication device: a tablet with words and symbols that can select to make you understand what you want.
The problem is that technology has limits.
Jessica noticed during the pool days with the family. The tablet could not follow it in the water and, just at those times, Hunter could find himself without his main tool to communicate.
Then, during a meal at the restaurant, something happened that changed her perspective.
Hunter's device completely discarded.
Jessica took a sheet and quickly drew an alphabet, hoping the son could use it to indicate what he wanted to order. The solution, however, did not work as planned and the frustration of the child increased.
Hunter himself found another way.
He turned the sheet and drew his keyboard in memory. Then he began to move his finger on the keys he had drawn, composing what he wanted to eat.
For Jessica, that gesture contained an important lesson: she could not allow her son to express himself to depend solely on a battery.
So he entered a tattoo studio with an unusual idea.
On his left forearm he tattooed an entire keyboard, complete with letters, a happy face, a sad and even a key to say "I love you".
From that moment on, Hunter had an emergency system always available.
If the tablet is unloaded, it remained at home or cannot be used, as when entering the pool, it can simply touch the letters on his mother's arm and try to communicate what he needs.
Jessica showed Hunter while using the tattoo in a video posted on Facebook. The images reached over 100 million views, while other content dedicated to their history has collected millions of interactions.
The story has reached parents, destroyers and tattooists in different parts of the world. Some artists have even offered to make the same kind of tattoo for free to other parents of children who do not speak.
Maddy Dever, president of the National Autism Network, underlined a fundamental aspect that stories like this help to understand: when a non-verbal person receives the appropriate tool to express themselves, they can emerge skills, thoughts and personalities that others simply risked failing to see.
And perhaps this is the most important meaning of Jessica's gesture.
That tattoo doesn't need to talk instead of Hunter.
It's for Hunter to always have another chance to talk his way.