Joel's Place Autism Center

     Over the course of this next month, we will be hosting two events primarily for youth on the Autism Spectrum:  Camp Yes! and an A.skate clinic.  Camp Yes! is a two-week morning experience for 15 kids on the spectrum to have a summer camp experience.  They will meet here for 4 hours per day and learn about cooking, pets, music, art, skating, acting and social skills as they interact with the leaders, councilors and other campers.  The A.skate clinic is August 17th.  Over the course of a few hours, kids will receive a personal skating lesson that introduces them to skating and gives them the opportunity to learn a new skill and grow in self-esteem and confidence.  These are not our traditional members nor our traditional activities and so they could raise some questions.

• How did we get involved with these events?  That's pretty easy...I went out and found them.  When I took over at Joel's Place, I looked at expanding the number of youth and groups who were utilizing our facility.  I looked up who might be interested in skateboarding and stumbled across a growing movement of skating as a therapeutic activity for autism.  So I attended a couple of local meetings to help plan Camp Yes! and I wrote a grant in order to bring the A.skate clinic to Fairbanks.
• How is skating "therapeutic" for kids with autism?  What is autism anyway?  Autism is a sensory developmental disorder.  It effects kids in lots of different ways with varying intensity, but there tend to be some generalities that apply.  Some physical senses tend to be more sensitive while others are more muted.  The brain has a challenging time knowing which sense to prioritize.  For example the rush of the wind, the smell of fresh cut grass, the fluttering of a butterfly's wings and mom's voice yelling at you to stay out of the street could all register as equally important in an autistic brain.  As a result, many of the social cues and social skills that people would instinctively pick up as small children have to be learned by young people with autism.  Youth on the spectrum tend to be socially awkward in conversation and convention, have little sense of personal space, speak whatever script is playing in their head, be especially sensitive to noise/light/taste, be hyperactive and refuse to make eye-contact.  They may be exceptionally smart and have a few subjects that they have an encyclopedic knowledge of.  They may regularly inflict harm upon themselves as they have a hard time feeling where their body ends and the rest of the world begins.  

                      Skating offers a few central pieces.  First is the motion and sense of movement.  Rocking and swinging tend to be popular for toddlers with autism.  The extra pressure of movement reinforces their boundaries...same with skating.  There is a lot of physical exertion of the large muscle groups as they drop in for their runs, jump, flip and work to maintain their balance.  Second is parallel play.  Group sports like soccer or basketball have the challenging physical elements in addition to seemingly arbitrary rules and tons of social dynamics that require both verbal and nonverbal communication.  Skating gives the opportunity to participate in a group while being an individual athlete which is so much less taxing for the kids.  Third, skating often centers around perfecting a series of tricks which works perfectly with the desire to focus on a few certain things. Fourth, skating culture is a subculture of those on the margins...those who don't quite fit in with the mainstream.  Friendships grow out of a shared love of skating and appreciation of skills...it is less about fashion, style, socio-economic background or popularity.  It is a wonderful introduction into community for those who struggle to fit in.

• Why focus on autism instead of another developmental delay group?  My son is on the spectrum.  I have a lot of familiarity with the issues that autistic families face.  As I look around at the Joel's Place members, it is pretty easy to see that a number of our regulars sit squarely on the spectrum also.  They gravitate here whether we are prepared for them or not.  I want my staff to be well equipped to serve this demographic well.  Also, awareness of autism and diagnoses are rapidly increasing around the world.  It will not be going away anytime soon and we have one of the best facilities in Alaska to provide what these kids, and their families, desperately need.
• What does this mean for the future of Joel's Place?  My hope is that we will become entrenched in the autistic community.  I would love to see Joel's Place filled with kids on the spectrum during school hours when we would normally be closed.  Joel's Place was established to give young people the resources to thrive in the outside world when no one else would help them.  This group is not homeless, but they are at-risk.  Of course we would give what we have in order to help young people build self-esteem and community and confidence and relational skills and hope.  

We take our first steps into this endeavor this month.  If you have questions or comments or even would like to come alongside us and help out, feel free to contact me. I am excited to see where we go from here.

James