Yesterday, I had the privilege of watching some really incredible youth work on a project to raise awareness of problem gambling. It was facilitated by Royers Animation Studio and the state office of Problem Gambling (California Health Department). Our school is 1 of 27 schools selected to create 2 public service announcements (PSA). All 27 schools will gather in June 2016 to showcase all of our work.
Although the 8 students involved did not have direct knowledge of problem gambling, they related to the loss that can occur when addiction takes over a person's lives. The students broke into 2 teams, one working on a prevention method. The other team worked on a message to get help for treatment. 3 of the students have Autism. They chose to work together. At first, I wanted to break the group up & mix them with their typical peers, but I decided to let them stay in the groups as they had chosen.
Typically students in the Autism Spectrum have a difficult time focusing, don't relate well to things they have no personal experience with, aren't flexible in thinking, don't work well in groups, and lack perseverance. At first, it was a bit challenging to get the group to work together, They each had their own vision of what they wanted. Liz from Royer Studios and I would offer suggestions on how they might incorporate their ideas. For example, they each wanted their own super hero. They were talking over each other and getting a little frustrated. I suggested that they pick one super power and one villain. We talked the pro's and cons of the different powers. They decided to go with positive thinking as the super power! (Music to my ears) Working with Liz, they came up with a limerick to convey the storyline and message.
After a while, they figured out who was stronger in an area, and they assigned each other the tasks. One student was better at drawing people, another did the backgrounds, while the other worked on accessories and taglines (kind of like the old Batman TV show - BAM, POW, etc) Once the pictures were created, the 2 of the students did the voice over work to bring the pictures to life. One of the students was extremely anxious about making mistakes & sounding lame. Liz reassured him that if a mistake was made, it could be redone. His friend reassured him that he sounded cool & that it was going to be okay.
Then it was time to take pictures of the art work and move the pieces in incremental placements so that the stop motion could be done. By this point, the students had been working for almost 5 hours. It was obvious that they were getting tired, despite having had lunch and little breaks (they requested *YAY*) along the way. Yet they continued on. The kids wanted to see the final product of their efforts.
Ultimately, the team of 3 finished ahead of the other team. The students came up with a great concept with a strong visual presentation. Despite many opportunities to break down, the students used the coping strategies that we had taught them - taking breaks, changing to positive thought, etc. Even when they got frustrated they worked on. The students demonstrated focus, empathy, perseverance, and great friendship. They even went over to the other group and offered encouragement & feedback. After 6 hours of work, these 3 students surpassed even my expectations!
I have been a special educator for 12 years, with Autism Focus as emphasis for the last 8 years. Watching these kids use their God given talents to create a positive impact in their community really leaves me speechless. Even as I sit here typing this, tears of joy come to my eyes knowing that they may take what they have learned and maybe make it into a career in the future. I have heard the statistic that their is a high number of people with ASD that are either unemployed or under-employed (ie have a college degree, but work a low level position). I have a feeling that our kids will not be part of that statistic.
Yesterday was a day that I could have become a blockage by separating the kids out. I stepped back and let them create their own magic. They still had to work through frustration, negotiation, and even physical tiredness. And at the end of the day, they were successful!
PSAs will premier in March 2016. I'll post a link once they are a go!
