Al Roker and his wife, Deborah Roberts, are beyond proud of their son, Nick, who has special needs.
The 17-year-old has thrived over the years, Roker, 64, shared in a first-person story with Guideposts magazine.
Roker, who co-anchors “Today,” said of Nick, “He’s somewhere on the spectrum and maybe obsessive-compulsive. But those labels can be frustrating; they don’t begin to describe who Nick really is.”
Nick was born in July 2002 and Roker and Roberts soon noticed their son wasn’t developing at the same rate as other babies.
“We knew right from the beginning that he would be up against a whole different set of challenges,” the TV personality shared. “He wasn’t developing as fast as he should have, not holding our fingers as tightly, not always meeting our gaze, not as quick to crawl. At 3, he hardly talked and could barely walk.”
But with the help of speech, behavior and occupational therapists, Nick has flourished and now enjoys a full life that includes swimming, basketball and church, where he’s found “his place in the world.”
“Nick is a hard worker; he’s got a great sense of humor; he’s outgoing and a good swimmer; he’s developing a pretty good top-of-the-key basketball shot,” Roker expressed. “He takes chess lessons a couple times a week, and he does OK. He’s also very affectionate — like his grandfather — and full of love to share.”
Roker added, “I admire him.”
“Nick blossomed, far more than Deborah or I could have ever expected, given his original iffy prognosis,” Roker said.
Roker and Roberts are proud of Nick for overcoming so much. “The obstacles in this kid’s way were things that might have tripped up many others,” he wrote. “Not Nick, not even with the disabilities he was born with.”
Roker also has a 20-year-old daughter, Lelia, with Roberts, and another daughter, Courtney, from a previous relationship.