Creative Kaylem's costume goes down a storm with filmgoers

A local youngster caused quite a stir recently when he arrived at the IMC cinema in Lakepoint Retail Park dressed in a self-made costume of one of the main characters in the film he was about to watch.

Sixteen year old Kaylem Reid Cullen, who has autism spectrum disorder, spent four months making his Spring Bonnie costume. However, while time consuming his efforts certainly weren't in vain as fellow fans of the Five Nights at Freddie (FNaF) film franchise queued up to get photos taken with him before and after the showing.

Kaylem's Spring Bonnie costume got its first outing at Dublin Comic Con a few months ago and went down a storm there too with fans of FNaF, which is also a video game series.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Kaylem's mother Mary Reid said that making the outfit was a labour of love for her creative son, who also does drama at the Mullingar Arts Centre as well as making stop motion videos that he broadcasts on his own YouTube channel.

“He did everything from scratch and did a fantastic job. There is so much detail in the costume. It is made up of different sections and takes him a while to put it on.

“He planned it all himself and once he decided on a design he kept going. People were so impressed. Everyone was asking for photos and even waited outside after the movie to get a photo, he loved it.”

Kaylem was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was six years old. He is currently being home-schooled by his stepmother Laura Cullen, who Mary says is doing a “fantastic job”. Mary added that Kaylem has really come out of himself since he started youth theatre in MAC. She said that they decided to contact the Westmeath Examiner to hopefully inspire other children on the spectrum.

“We couldn't be prouder. Kaylem is extremely creative. He puts a lot of time and effort into everything he does.”

To visit Kaylem's YouTube channel click here