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Resource Report 11 - Autism Acres · Resource Report

0:20
Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
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share with you important information about local
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nonprofits and resource organizations that support
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the community we share, produced by Pathways
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to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today's
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guest is Sarah Young, co -owner of Autism Acres.
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I sat down with Sarah to find out all there is
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to know about this wonderful play place for neurodivergent
0:45
kids and their families. Later, I also asked
0:49
Jenny Jenkins and her 12 -year -old daughter,
0:51
Eva, about their first time going to Autism Acres.
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First, we will hear from Sarah, and later, Jenny
0:57
and Eva. Here's Sarah. I am here with Sarah Young
1:08
at Autism Acres, and we're hanging out in the
1:13
barn playhouse in the little kitchenette dining
1:18
area that's really cool and been recently renovated.
1:22
So hi, Sarah. How are you doing today? I'm doing
1:25
well. How are you? I'm doing great. We had some
1:28
beautiful weather today. So gorgeous. Yeah. So
1:32
tell me about yourself and Alan's background
1:35
and how it connects to Autism Acres. So my husband
1:40
served for 20 years in the Army, and I have a
1:44
bachelor's in crisis counseling, and I'm currently
1:48
working on getting my master's and license in
1:51
clinical mental health counseling. But what really
1:55
connects us mostly with autism is our three boys
1:57
have autism themselves. So we have one with a
2:02
level 3, a level 2, and a level 1 in our household,
2:04
so we really have a good spectrum. going on of
2:07
autism and we are uh working to adopt a little
2:10
girl with down syndrome so we have a an assortment
2:14
of special needs in our household and we just
2:17
love them dearly and wanted to create a space
2:20
for them where they just felt super welcome and
2:23
loved and included so that's wonderful um i want
2:28
to i haven't heard that expression before the
2:31
levels okay yeah and and you know and i i know
2:35
a bit about autism, having a daughter. But tell
2:40
me about that. When they were diagnosed, there
2:43
was different terminology. They were diagnosed
2:45
mild, moderate, and severe. But since then, the
2:50
terminology has just started changing. And so
2:52
they've changed it to levels now. And so level
2:57
one is just like less support needs, where a
3:01
level three is higher support needs. Like they
3:05
would call it high functioning. Right. Okay.
3:11
When did they change that? It's always changing.
3:15
It's always changing. I believe in my DSM -5
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diagnostic book, it's levels at this point. So
3:22
I'm not sure when it changed. Oh, okay. Okay.
3:25
But yeah. Okay. How did you and Alan come up
3:29
with the idea and plan for Autism Acres? Funny
3:33
story is we bought this five acres because when
3:36
Alan retired, he wanted to be left alone with
3:40
no one around and live in peace. And instead,
3:44
we've opened up our property to welcome complete
3:46
strangers on a weekly basis to come out and just
3:50
connect and have a place to be. But honestly,
3:54
it came from our faith. We knew we couldn't be,
3:59
we didn't even have church at the time. We weren't
4:02
connected to any kind of body for about six years.
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And so it was kind of this, we felt like we weren't
4:09
the only ones that felt so alone and isolated
4:11
in this community of disability and autism and
4:17
all of that. So it was, he kind of just prayed
4:20
about it and this is what popped up. Oh, oh,
4:25
oh, wow, wow, wow. Um, it's, it's interesting
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to me, um, whenever, whenever people, uh, like
4:34
reach out to spirit, to God, to source, um, and
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then receive a message. Is it okay if I ask,
4:43
um, to share, uh, how, how that, you know, internalize,
4:48
you know, like, like, was it a dream? Was it?
4:51
Was it people coming in, asking questions? What
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sparked that? I'm really curious about that.
4:59
It sparked from he felt we were actually meant
5:03
to go on missions overseas, even with three autistic
5:06
boys. He was convinced we were supposed to go
5:09
to Africa or something and be on mission. And
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so he decided to just go to a quiet place and
5:14
pray about it. And instead he got this, you don't
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get to pick. where I gave you mission and I've
5:22
clearly called you to serve those with disabilities
5:25
based on who our children were. And so this idea
5:29
just popped in his head of turning this space
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into a play area. So it was just kind of this
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like, okay, we're not going to Africa. We are
5:38
in fact staying here. And just kind of looking
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around, we had the bones. From buying this property
5:44
for everything that we've started. And so it
5:47
just kind of the blueprint was here. And we just.
5:50
The perfect foundation. Yeah so like the play
5:52
structure. Alan had dreams of this like huge
5:55
towering multi -level. Play structures. And when
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he went to like kind of draw it out. Again it
6:02
was just kind of this like nudging of. Do something
6:05
that's wheelchair accessible. Because there's
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not a lot of those in Washington State. So it's
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just a lot of like just nudging. And kind of
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just. following that and it producing amazing
6:16
things. So that's, that's really amazing. That's
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really good. That's really good. Um, so yeah,
6:22
you've, you've mentioned a couple of different
6:24
features. Um, so let's talk about the space,
6:27
talk about the whole, your, the property. So
6:30
it's five acres and it's fully fenced. So I think
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that is like a big, draw for families that have
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elopers and kids that like to wander off so a
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lot of sections are fenced like separately fenced
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but then the whole thing is entirely fenced and
6:45
gated sometimes we keep the gate open just for
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the people coming and going but if it becomes
6:50
a can we shut the gate we'll shut the gate to
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make sure some kiddos don't wander off so we
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have a field dedicated completely to swings so
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there's different type of back and forth swings,
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spinning swings. So they're like large domes
7:07
with different swings attached to them. They're
7:09
like platform swings. Yeah, they're like netted
7:13
circle swings. And then there's one that gets
7:14
spinning really fast. I don't know how kids do
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not throw up on those. And then just regular
7:20
normal swings. Right, and then we just have the
7:21
normal sets of swings. We have a zip line. A
7:25
treehouse that was donated to us by Nelson Treehouse,
7:28
who had the Treehouse Masters. They have like
7:32
11 seasons on Discovery. Oh, wow. They built
7:35
really elaborate treehouses. So they ended up
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donating a treehouse to us, which was super awesome.
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I've been up in that treehouse, too. It is very
7:45
awesome. It's got like a sliding wooden door
7:49
that opens up an entire wall. You know, and then
7:53
you can seal it closed again. Yeah. And you can
7:56
climb up a ladder to a little loft. Yes. There's
7:58
windows. We want to make that like a little reading
8:01
area with some sensory stuff on the wall. We
8:03
have lots of plans. You know, if you ever flood,
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that's the perfect. There we go. There you go.
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That's so sweet because we have a place to stay
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already. Right? Yep. Yeah. Then we have our shop.
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which on the right -hand side with our roll -up
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door is where we host our teen nights. So that
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has two arcade -style games, and then it has
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foosball, ping -pong, air hockey. We typically
8:30
provide pizza for them. We'll do bonfire nights
8:33
where we make s'mores and stuff. And then during
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the summers, we bring out the foam machine, which
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is a really big hit out here. We do that both
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for the younger kids and our teens. All ages
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love them. Adults love it. It's great for everybody.
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On the left -hand side, we're working on making
8:50
our quiet room for kids that just need to take
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a minute. They usually actually do pretty well
8:56
out here. But, you know, there's just moments
8:58
of being overstimulated or overwhelmed. So we're
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making a, like, just quieter space where they
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can go take a beat. So that's going to be on
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the left side of the shop where the door is.
9:07
And then we have our 3 ,000 square foot barn.
9:10
It's bigger now since we've done this expansion,
9:13
but we converted it. It started with just the
9:16
bounce house in the barn. That's where Autism
9:18
Acres started. That was the roots. You know,
9:21
that's a great root, like bounce houses, man.
9:24
It's a good start. You can't beat it. And then
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we added the trampoline, which is another, I
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know that's really good for their equilibriums
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and stuff, the bouncing. And unlike us 80s kids,
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you've got a netted barrier. And a good set of
9:39
stairs going up to it. It's a real safe trampoline.
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They're very stable stairs. Yes. Yep. So trampoline,
9:45
bounce house. We have the wheelchair accessible
9:47
play structure. In the middle of said play structure,
9:51
we have like a construction zone with dirts and
9:53
trucks. And then we have a race car set for Hot
9:56
Wheels. Like a little sandbox area over there.
10:00
And then we have our playhouse area, which has
10:03
like a kitchen and a play store and trains. That's
10:06
usually the biggest stuff that's played with
10:07
in there. We have a basketball, like arcade style.
10:11
And then we have our toddler town. So that has
10:14
just a little play structure, a smaller trampoline.
10:17
And right now a swing's in there that we're going
10:20
to move around and do some stuff. And that's
10:21
a new space that you've just recently put in.
10:24
Yeah, that's a newer space within the last year
10:25
or so. And then most recently is our kitchen
10:28
area. um like a dining place so to speak with
10:32
a countertop and lots of seating and then i think
10:35
the biggest hit for parents is we have a coffee
10:37
machine y 'all had that before but it was just
10:40
a little setup table and it was just such an
10:42
unorganized mess so I'm loving the organization
10:44
this is a really nice little space that you've
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put in yeah definitely and then we have a changing
10:51
Table area, which is huge. And the changing table
10:54
is big enough for adults as well. Yeah, I looked
10:56
at it. It's actually a little massage table.
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It is. Yeah, I wasn't old. Having been a massage
11:01
therapist, I recognize this. But it's universal.
11:06
I like the chalkboards, the slides, the little
11:11
climbing wall. Yeah, all kinds of features. You've
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got all sorts of fun stuff to do. This area back
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here we're going to make it. kind of more of
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an art area and we've just bought i went to goodwill
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and just bought all sorts of different textured
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stuff to just kind of make a sensory textury
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wall oh lovely that's right next to the goats
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yes maybe we can hear in the background the poor
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goats they're crazy they're begging for food
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right now that's why they're getting all mad
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and yelling out they they they were they were
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surprised to see somebody and and jumped up to
11:46
see me they weren't expecting people Yeah, awesome.
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And then you've got a pasture back there. You've
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got a little pony. Yeah, we've got too many horses,
11:58
Barry and Lola. What kind of horses are they?
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I am unsure. I know they're not ponies, but they're
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miniature horses. There is a difference. Ponies
12:09
can be mean, whereas many horses have the temperament
12:12
of a horse. They're just small. So they're the
12:14
sweetest animals. They like people. They don't
12:19
get sassy. Y 'all had some llamas for a little
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while. We did have, yeah. Those were, we were,
12:26
like, caring for them. Okay. For some people.
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And then they kind of just abandoned them. Oh,
12:32
no. And so then we had to work with an alpaca,
12:34
like, rescue to take them and find them homes.
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And they were considered abandoned. But alpacas,
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they're just so touch and go. For us, we wanted
12:44
just more friendly animals that wanted. To interact
12:47
with people. Yeah. So they would kind of run
12:50
off in this. Kids would just get so sad. Yeah,
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I remember one time I came when you had the llamas.
12:56
I took a couple of boys back there and sat with
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them and kept them quiet and still. There was
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a certain space that the alpacas were comfortable
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with, and I figured out what that line was and
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didn't let the boys cross it. We were all able
13:16
to enjoy each other's space for a minute. Yeah,
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that was fun. So specify who do you invite here?
13:29
We know Autism Acres, so obviously autistic children
13:34
on the spectrum, but neurodivergence in general?
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Yeah, so if you have a diagnosis, ADHD. to whatever
13:44
it's just kind of a space for people that have
13:48
a more challenging time going out into public
13:51
settings and just or constantly feel judged when
13:56
they go out we just really wanted to create a
13:58
safe space for them where they didn't feel like
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eyes were on them parents didn't feel like they
14:02
had to apologize for any behaviors you're welcome
14:05
here. And so it's really anybody with any kind
14:08
of disability, special needs, whatever the case,
14:11
we really want you to feel welcome out here.
14:13
Some children do not have diagnoses, but the
14:18
parents just are not able to navigate that but
14:22
know that there's something different about their
14:23
child. And this is open to them. Right. We don't
14:26
ask for any kind of paper specifying anything.
14:31
If you feel like this would be a space for your
14:33
kid to connect with people and find friendship
14:36
and belonging, then by all means, please come
14:39
on out. That's awesome. And siblings, even though
14:42
they may not be neurodivergent, are welcome too.
14:45
Yeah, we never want a parent to feel like they
14:46
have to find child care or something. It's for
14:48
the whole family. We want them to be able to
14:51
come out, siblings and those with the disability,
14:54
and both the parents, just everybody within the
14:57
family. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. So
15:09
talk about the different types of activities
15:11
that y 'all provide, like play days, birthday
15:15
parties, teen nights. I noticed that you have
15:17
field trips listed on the website. We do have
15:19
field trips. Yeah, so those are gearing up a
15:23
little bit more. I think we had one the first
15:25
year we opened, but we give a three - to four
15:29
-hour space, and we rotate classrooms. So one
15:34
of the teachers, though, had told us they don't
15:36
budget. for the special ed classes to go on field
15:40
trips. It's never in the budget. Interesting.
15:41
So she's like, they can't tell us no to a free
15:44
field trip. So we've been getting more field
15:46
trips just because the only thing you have to
15:48
budget for is the transportation usually, and
15:50
that's not too steep, hopefully. At the very
15:54
least, it's a parent chaperone thing. Right,
15:57
yeah. So we do field trips, like you said, teen
16:00
nights, play days. Our play day age range is
16:03
from two to six is one. And then we do a birthday
16:07
party in between that from 12 to 2. And then
16:09
7 to 12 -year -olds are at our 2 to 4 playday
16:13
time slot. So we have that. And then we'll do
16:16
teen nights twice a month. We unfortunately have
16:19
to close those down in the winter because those
16:20
are usually outside. And it's just dark and cold
16:23
and rainy. So those take like a break from November
16:27
to we just started them back up in April. Like
16:31
I said, we do bonfire. We did an auction night,
16:36
which they loved. We gave them fake money and
16:38
the paddles and everything. And we auctioned
16:41
off gift cards and just snacks and stuff. And
16:43
they had so much fun raising the paddles. Wow,
16:45
awesome. And then we do some adult days. We work
16:49
with Lewis County Accessible Recreation. They
16:51
do adult day outs with disabilities. And they
16:54
always ask when they get to come back to Autism
16:57
Acres. So we are hosting them at the end of this
17:00
month, which I'm always excited to see our friends
17:02
with them. new? I haven't heard about that. Lewis
17:06
County Accessible Recreation I think they've
17:09
been around about two years now. Okay. I want
17:11
to say this will be our third spring hosting
17:14
of them. Yeah. And so then we're trying to do
17:17
more Purposeful focused events. So like this
17:21
Saturday. We're doing bird house building. And
17:23
painting and wind chime. And that's the teen
17:25
night. So that's both for the play days. And
17:29
the teen night. Oh okay. And we're going to be
17:32
there. So last month. Was the auction night.
17:39
That's right. And then I believe the next month.
17:41
We're doing another. The Lego racetrack. So kids
17:46
get to. Get a race car base. If they want to
17:49
take it home. They just build a car out of it.
17:51
And then we bought a track for them to race on.
17:53
And it's timed and everything. And they are welcome
17:56
to take their car home. That they built if they
17:58
would like to. So we're trying to just do more
18:01
focused events. Than just the play days all the
18:04
time. Just to give them something exciting and
18:06
new. To look forward to. I remember on your website.
18:11
Where you go into availability and you see the
18:15
different play day schedules. I remember sometimes
18:20
it would say homeschool days or play days. Homeschool
18:25
meet up. Homeschool meet up. So I homeschool
18:28
my three boys. And co -ops just don't typically
18:33
work for our kids. But there's a little more
18:37
structure to them. And they want you to. stay
18:42
but sometimes they want you to drop off and that
18:45
doesn't like I don't know if I should just drop
18:47
my kids off and go but I wanted my kids the biggest
18:52
thing Ethan missed about school was the socializing
18:56
He didn't like school and never wanted to go
18:58
back because of being bullied. But he wanted
19:00
friends and he wanted to socialize. So every
19:02
other Wednesday, we do a homeschool meetup. So
19:05
these kids can, there's no structure to it. It's
19:07
just for them to socialize and hang out and engage
19:09
with one another. So it's a play day. It's just
19:12
relabeled. It's a play day, but for kids that
19:15
are homeschooled, yes. Because it's from 1 to
19:17
3 in the middle of the week. Okay, so it's more
19:20
specifically for homeschooling families. Yes.
19:23
So it's a play day for homeschooling families.
19:26
With disabilities, yes. And so we will gear up
19:30
in the future, not while I'm in school. We're
19:33
not putting another thing on our plates. But
19:37
we do want to do gardening and animal care so
19:40
that they then can get some of their credit hours
19:43
for homeschooling by doing something out here.
19:47
with us okay i'd say that's a future project
19:50
that will work project okay that's good to know
19:52
about that how uh how do people sign up to come
20:04
for an event So on our website, autismmakers
20:07
.org, we have different tabs. And one says availability.
20:10
So that's going to usually have about a month
20:12
-long schedule. And there's a link that will
20:15
take you to get a ticket. But the tickets are
20:18
free. So you just sign up however many kids are
20:22
attending. Parents don't need a ticket, just
20:24
the kids. And we have 15 slots per play day or
20:27
play time. So we usually kind of give a little
20:32
more slots. uh, weather's really nice and we
20:36
can kind of separate and some kids be out front,
20:37
but when it's raining, 15 kids in this barn is
20:40
plenty. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Um, And that's
20:46
through the Zephy website. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
20:48
So it'll just take you to it and it's super quick
20:50
and easy and no need to bring the ticket. That's
20:53
just to make sure once the tickets are sold out,
20:56
typically people don't just show up or anything.
20:58
They respect that. So yeah. And that's more,
21:00
uh, it's, it's for you to be able to keep track
21:03
of the count of how many people are coming and
21:06
for, uh, records, nonprofit records. Yeah. Cool.
21:11
Um, And it is all free. There's never any cost
21:17
for anything. Never a cost. Yeah. And you have
21:20
some nice amenities here, too. You recently put
21:23
in a new bathroom. Yeah, we used to have an outhouse,
21:30
and it served its purpose. When we first opened,
21:35
for six months, people were going in our home
21:39
to use the restroom. Okay. So we then upgraded
21:44
to a house. And then that just, I mean, yes,
21:48
over time that just costs a lot of money to continue
21:51
to pay that monthly fee. So, yeah, we put a nice
21:53
little ADA. It's a little tight. We would like,
21:58
we will eventually be getting a bigger ADA that
22:01
is much more comfortable. Um, but yeah, we put
22:03
a bathroom out there that it flushes and has
22:06
running water and it's wonderful. It has bars
22:08
and everything. Yeah. It's, it's nice. We've
22:11
been in there. Um, and then you also like for
22:14
your snacks, you have gluten and dairy free.
22:17
Yeah. So we offer again, it's free snacks. And
22:20
so we try to like, yeah, we have like these vegan.
22:23
We just want to make sure if a kid would like
22:25
a snack to have stuff that are definitely allergy
22:28
friendly. So goldfish, but also veggie straws,
22:34
I believe are gluten free and dairy free. It
22:36
depends on the flavor and brand. Okay. Yes. Make
22:40
sure to check that out. Yeah, exactly. Always
22:42
read the labels. And then we have specifically
22:45
those vegan gluten free bars that we buy. that
22:48
are nut -free and allergy -free. As a non -dairy
22:52
person myself, I'm happy that you have a non
22:56
-dairy creamer. Hello, big old bumblebee. He's
23:00
a friendly bee trying to get outside. We get
23:02
all sorts of lovely creatures. You're on a farm.
23:05
Right? How can people get involved, and do you
23:13
accept any volunteering? So we just partnered
23:16
with a company. Well, I wouldn't say partner,
23:18
but we'll utilize them for background checks.
23:22
We'll be doing not just like, I guess there's
23:26
different levels of background checks. And so
23:27
we want to make sure when we're having people
23:30
around children that we're doing some pretty
23:32
deep background checks. And then I will be as
23:36
a licensed counselor. We're going to wait until
23:38
I'm licensed to then they will have an hour long
23:41
interview with me. Before I give them the stamp
23:44
of approval. That's if they want to be here during
23:46
the play times with the kids. We have people
23:49
come out and volunteer that do like clean up
23:51
days. Okay. As much as that doesn't seem maybe
23:54
as fun. It is so helpful to us when people gather
23:57
to help us pick up. I mean there's storms and
24:00
then just so much debris or whatever. And so
24:03
we just had a business recently come out with
24:05
about 10 people. And they cleared up the front
24:07
part of our yard that just was looking real shabby.
24:10
And it looks great now. So there's volunteering
24:13
for that, which that would just be like a surface
24:15
-y level background check. We still want to make
24:17
sure, you know, we've got some upstanding citizens
24:22
coming out here type thing on our property. But
24:25
then we'll be doing just some extra measures
24:28
if people are going to be around kids. Parents
24:31
are around still, but we just want to take that.
24:34
extra level of precaution. This is a really vulnerable
24:36
population. Definitely. And I want to make sure
24:38
they're well protected. So we haven't gotten
24:41
there yet because I want to be a licensed counselor
24:43
and I just want to make sure. So in a year I
24:46
graduate and so that's probably when we'll gear
24:48
up to really start doing some volunteers out
24:50
here just to be able to play and interact with
24:53
the kids a little bit more to let the parents
24:54
back away a little bit and just kind of take
24:56
a breather. Cool. Let's talk about that. Your
25:00
counseling and and what plans you have for that
25:06
here in the space. So, yeah, really cool. I actually
25:10
get, my internship will be through Olympia Therapy,
25:13
and I'll be learning mostly. Olympia what? Olympia
25:16
Therapy. Olympia Therapy. And I'll mostly be
25:18
learning play therapy. Okay. Which is just going
25:21
to be super cool. It's just a different way of
25:24
communicating kids versus asking all the questions,
25:27
which sometimes our kids on the spectrum don't
25:29
do well with the bombardment of questions. but
25:33
engaging with them using play and other forms
25:36
of communication. And so I think that will come.
25:40
hugely in hand out here and then I would love
25:43
to potentially use that form of engagement not
25:46
to offer counseling but to try to have play groups
25:49
where I am trying to get these kids to engage
25:52
with one another and help to facilitate those
25:55
connections and friendships so that's the hope
25:58
with my counseling degree I will also use my
26:02
counseling degree to counsel people i however
26:06
cannot counsel people that come out here i can't
26:08
offer that because there has to be that boundary
26:11
type thing so i won't be able to like offer like
26:14
counseling sessions to families that are out
26:16
here but i could offer potentially the play group
26:18
with some kiddos out here so i'm going uh northwest
26:23
university i'm doing their clinical mental health
26:26
counseling program and it's it's pretty intense
26:30
It was four classes right out the gate. Master
26:32
level classes. And you have to maintain a B in
26:34
the classroom. So it was a lot of information
26:38
right out the gate. But it's been really challenging
26:40
and good. And it's been an interesting transition.
26:43
Me being out of the home. And Alan being in the
26:46
home all the time. But he's finding his groove.
26:50
Right on. Right on. Balance. Balance. We're learning
26:55
it. It's really hard. We really want to. I guess
27:01
you could in a way call us like the people pleasers.
27:03
We really don't like letting people down. We
27:05
want to host all the birthday party requests
27:07
that we get and we just can't. And so it's so
27:10
hard to tell these people like, no, we can't
27:12
throw your kid's birthday party because we only
27:14
have three a month. That's not very many. We're
27:15
not a business that's open, you know, six days
27:18
a week that can do all the birthday parties.
27:20
So that's been, that's been heart wrenching to
27:23
have to, to have to say no to those. We're getting
27:27
there. We're doing the best we can. That is a
27:31
challenge. It's always hard to tell people, no,
27:34
we care so much. You have to take care of yourself
27:38
first in order to have the capacity to care for
27:41
others. What would you say are other challenges
27:53
that you have or what your biggest challenge
27:55
is? probably doing the self -care like actually
28:01
taking care of myself um my day like I just have
28:06
so much on my plate all the time that scheduling
28:08
that time to not be busy with things that aren't
28:11
as fun is really hard for me I take a yearly
28:14
girl's trip though I just got back from my girl's
28:17
trip from this year so um I definitely have a
28:20
supportive husband that says go you need this
28:23
and we try to do that for each other and and
28:26
get those breaks but I need to find those smaller
28:29
grounding and mindful things to do, even on a
28:33
daily basis if it's five or ten minutes, just
28:35
to regroup. But I don't. I'm terrible at it.
28:40
And then I'm tired all the time. Or just really
28:44
worn down. You can tell when we've done a lot
28:47
of play days back -to -back and I haven't taken
28:48
care of myself. Because by that third one, I
28:50
am just depleted. So I really have to do a better
28:55
job of taking care of myself. to better take
28:58
care of my children and then to better take care
28:59
of autism acres. So it's easier said than done.
29:04
Definitely. That's a challenge that I think every
29:07
parent of a neurodivergent child. And then on
29:12
the top of that, that you're managing all of
29:15
this and helping other families of neurodivergent
29:20
children navigate. as well it's just amazing
29:23
work that you're doing well thank you yeah i
29:26
know the parents are tired at the end of the
29:28
day i we can sit here and tell each other self
29:31
-care but they're fighting schools to properly
29:34
educate their kids they're fighting schools to
29:36
properly keep their kids safe they're fighting
29:38
governments that are wanting to take away the
29:40
like these rights of these kids it's just fight
29:43
after fight after fight and these parents are
29:45
tired and To schedule time to take care of yourself
29:48
sounds like another thing to do, if that makes
29:51
sense. And so, yeah, really even them just getting
29:54
a chance to sit down and talk to other adults
29:56
while their kids play in a space. We didn't mention
29:59
it before, but our barn has doors. Oh, yes. To
30:03
the exit. Like, there's not a way for kids to...
30:06
it's not that they're locked locked in by any
30:08
means but it takes them a second and where our
30:11
seating is you can see the doors to the outside
30:13
and so you have enough time to react but these
30:15
parents then get to sit or have adult conversations
30:17
with people and it just gives them a chance to
30:20
breathe and regroup and know their kids are safe
30:23
and there's not someone around that's picking
30:26
on them or or saying making comments about their
30:29
behaviors like they just get to like not have
30:32
to be so on if that makes sense definitely yeah
30:35
sitting sitting being able to sit down in such
30:40
a safe space with other parents who understand
30:43
um and and you don't feel judged and you're able
30:48
to connect that's really what it's about is the
30:50
connection it's just man our first time coming
30:55
i'm getting emotional It was just such a breath
31:00
of fresh air. It was such a relief to know that
31:04
it's just really connecting and comforting and
31:08
pleasant, you know, and sharing experiences with
31:14
other parents, you know. I get it. That was the
31:18
whole purpose of it, too. It was the lack of
31:21
connection that I know we were feeling it, and
31:25
we knew a lot of other parents were feeling it.
31:27
You know, you'd get invited to the park and then
31:30
I'm just, I would be like, I have to chase. My
31:33
kid just does nothing but wander. He's not going
31:35
to play at the park. So I'm not going to sit
31:37
and talk to you. I don't get to do that. I got
31:38
to chase my kid around. We wanted to create that
31:41
space that parents could just breathe and just
31:45
connect. And I think it was the. Now I get emotional
31:49
because, like I said, my son begged to never
31:52
go back to school. When COVID happened and he
31:54
was out of school, he never wanted to go back.
31:56
He was bullied in second grade. And he had no
32:02
friends. He never had had a birthday party yet
32:04
because no one would come. And so after we opened
32:08
and we threw his first birthday party out here,
32:10
he had a list of 12 kids that he had met out
32:12
here that all showed up at his birthday party.
32:15
Like, my kid has a list of friends. He has people
32:18
that he plays with, like, games with online.
32:20
Like, that's not something he had. And I don't
32:22
know if he would have had it had he continued
32:24
going, had we not done this. Like, I just, I
32:27
don't know. You know, I can't make that prediction.
32:30
But to give him safe friends that love him and
32:33
see him for who he is and they don't make any
32:35
kind of, like, they think he's a rock star. And
32:38
I love that. Like, he's well loved. By people
32:42
out here. And that's what the world needs to
32:44
see. These kids aren't some burden on society.
32:48
They're not something that needs to be fixed.
32:50
They're amazing humans. That just need people
32:53
to see them and love them. For who they are.
32:55
And sometimes it's hard. I'm not saying it's
32:57
easy. There are challenging moments. But it's
33:00
still beautiful. And they've changed my life.
33:03
And I would not change my children. If they wanted
33:06
to be changed because they didn't, then fine.
33:08
But I'm not going to, I would not make that decision
33:10
for them because they have made such an impact
33:12
on my life that I'm so grateful for. Yeah. To
33:15
get to know this community of people. Yeah. I
33:18
wouldn't have known them had I had all neurotypical
33:21
kids potentially. I wouldn't have seen them.
33:23
So I try not to get too mad at people that aren't
33:25
in this life because I didn't see. When I went
33:30
to school years ago, the special ed kids were
33:31
in the classroom and you did not see them. You
33:34
did not engage with them. So I didn't have disability
33:39
on my radar, so to speak, either. If I'm having
33:43
that grace for others. It wasn't super on my
33:45
radar. I think had someone brought some of the
33:48
issues to my attention, my heart would go out
33:51
to them. But it wasn't on my radar to go chase
33:53
it down and try to fight for this community.
33:57
But now that I'm a part of it, what a beautiful
33:59
community this is. Like, I wouldn't want to be
34:01
a part of any other community. I love people
34:05
with special needs and disabilities. They're
34:06
just amazing. And I wish more people would take
34:09
the time to get to know them and see them for
34:11
who they are. Yeah, I feel all of that. I resonate
34:17
with all of that so deeply. My oldest daughter
34:21
was able to make some friends here. And that's
34:24
difficult. Yeah. Yeah. Are there other, or any
34:31
other groups that work with neurodivergence as
34:34
well? I think that there, I recently discovered
34:38
that there's kind of a play place similar to
34:41
what you do in Olympia, or Lacey actually, rather.
34:45
Oh. Yeah. What play place is that? Do you know
34:47
of it? What's it called? I know there's the Mad
34:50
Hatter Cafe in Central, yeah? I believe the age
34:54
cap is seven for that though. That's like a coffee
34:56
shop with like this little gated in play area
34:58
that can be a safe place for kids to play in.
35:05
And then there's rock that we rock this sensory
35:07
tool house. Oh, sensory tool house. So sensory
35:10
tool house isn't like a, they have needs for
35:14
different, anybody, but different. Um, they have
35:19
like the headphones they offer. They have like
35:21
fidgets. weighted vests those kind of things
35:25
and you can go in there they do have like a quiet
35:27
room area but you can go in there and test out
35:30
all the stuff which is super cool they have it
35:32
all open like they have products open for the
35:35
kids to or adults whoever needs it to go in there
35:38
and fidget with it play with it try out with
35:39
things before buying it oh that's i haven't been
35:42
yeah So you have mentioned some different organizations
35:46
that you've partnered with. Do you work with
35:49
any other groups? I mean, we've partnered with
35:52
Thurston County Inclusion before we did a Halloween
35:55
little trick -or -treat thingy out on our property.
35:59
Lewis County Accessible Recreations with the
36:02
adults, we've partnered with them. I share. I'll
36:07
get calls from Thurston County Early Childhood
36:11
Coalition. They just reached out. I'm going to
36:15
go share what we offer. So we'll partner with
36:18
people in the sense of like going to share what
36:20
we offer with them. We are always willing to
36:23
let, we've had ABA therapies, OT offices. They've
36:29
like done a parent's family day and they've come
36:31
out here and utilized our facility. And again,
36:33
it's free. That's what this is for. So we've
36:37
had family days from different therapy offices
36:40
come out and just utilize our space. So, so to
36:42
speak, they rent it for free. And so we partner
36:46
with people, anybody that wants to utilize our
36:48
space that have special needs or a disability,
36:52
they're welcome to do that. This space is for
36:55
you to come and utilize. Awesome. Yeah. People
37:00
tend to have different philosophies and views
37:04
around neurodivergency and the different ways
37:11
of managing or navigating or accepting it. And
37:17
you mentioned ABA therapy, and that's a very
37:20
controversial therapy. Just so that people understand
37:25
what environment they are coming into when they
37:29
come here as far as ideas around those things
37:35
are involved. How do you feel about things like
37:38
that? I mean, we don't use any practices by any
37:40
means of any kind of ABA therapy or anything.
37:47
I think I see ABA for what it used to be. for
37:54
what abuse you know just some of the tactics
37:56
weren't great yeah um we have evolved and we
38:01
can evolve things can evolve um therapy that
38:06
i have seen firsthand that has been helpful was
38:11
not to change who the person was it was never
38:14
to take away their stems they understood that
38:17
that was self -regulation it was never to change
38:21
behaviors, so to speak, most of them. Some of
38:23
them, if they were unsafe behaviors, we tried
38:26
to navigate that. But the biggest thing was teaching
38:29
them skills to navigate the community. So one
38:32
thing that firsthand was taught to my son was
38:35
safe versus dangerous. So Tristan's our level
38:38
three, severe, whatever functioning you want
38:41
to call that. And he would climb our fence and
38:44
escape from our property a lot. And something
38:47
that was just kind of reiterated to him throughout
38:50
a therapy session was that once something was
38:53
labeled as dangerous, he should not do that.
38:56
And once we labeled climbing the fence as dangerous,
38:59
he no longer does it. So that was an important
39:03
piece for our family, and it never changed who
39:05
my kid was. He is still very much Tristan. And
39:09
he still very much does all his cute little quirks
39:12
and stems and all the things he needs to do to
39:16
regulate himself and his body. And that was never
39:19
tried to be forced out. They tried to teach him
39:22
to cook his own food. It was more of like a self
39:25
-skills type therapy. And that's what they were
39:29
giving him was he learned to cook his own food.
39:32
He learned to use a timer on his own to do things.
39:38
Like, hey, when you hear a timer go off, you
39:40
know, we use a timer in the shower for him. They
39:43
just like helped him learn things that would
39:45
help us as parents, but mostly make his life
39:48
more independent because that's what we want.
39:50
We want him to have a voice and to be able to
39:53
do things on his own. So ABA, yes, controversial.
39:57
There are, I think they're trying to change that.
40:01
It's still person centered. There's still people
40:04
at the core. You know, not just, you know, people
40:08
Pavlov and all that kind of stuff of just training
40:11
it with behaviors and they only see the behavior.
40:14
There are ones starting to see the person first
40:16
and still recognizing that they still can consent.
40:19
If they're being adversive to something that
40:22
someone's trying to get them to do, that person
40:24
stops. That's their way of saying, no, I don't
40:26
like that. And they back away. They have a voice.
40:30
And so it's evolving and it might be slow. But
40:35
I think we need to, and this could be my personal
40:39
opinion, but we're real quick to judge sometimes.
40:43
And so I think looking into it, understanding
40:47
the heart behind it. And there are some that
40:50
are very much neurodivergent affirming. And that
40:52
their point is not to change them, but just to
40:56
give them tools to better their life and be more
40:59
independent. And I'm okay. With that kind of
41:03
beat. But, like, that can be OT. That can be,
41:05
you know, OT does that kind of stuff. There are
41:08
other therapies out there. Mm -hmm. But I don't,
41:14
we don't practice any of it out here. Right.
41:16
And some people might have conversations about
41:19
ABA. I can't control the conversations of what.
41:22
people stay out here and I will if anyone asks
41:25
me I will give them my opinion on what ABA has
41:27
done or not done for my family I think we found
41:30
a super beautiful ABA therapy office that was
41:33
very much neurodivergent affirming and was not
41:37
out to let's try to fit your square peg in this
41:41
round hole there they were let's drill a new
41:43
hole in this board that you fit into but just
41:47
help you with some tools That's so refreshing
41:51
to hear. I mean, people hear a lot of things.
41:54
And this is what we're doing here is finding
41:57
out that particular information and getting it
42:00
clarified. So that's an important and valuable
42:02
conversation that you shared with me. Thank you.
42:04
And I don't want to downplay people that have
42:07
gone through a type of ABA therapy. That was
42:12
abuse, and that was awful to them. Their story
42:15
is not invalid, and I understand why they completely
42:18
are written off for ABA. That is completely understandable,
42:21
and I'm not trying to invalidate that. That is
42:26
very much valid, and I completely understand
42:29
that. That has not been our experience. I think
42:31
our children were very loved where they went
42:34
and very much respected for who they were. as
42:37
people. So, and it's, it's not often that you
42:40
hear the positive stories either. And you know,
42:42
this gives people different impressions and it's
42:45
important, uh, that people hear the full story
42:48
and get all of the facts. And it sounds like
42:53
there. are it's it's the foundation of the aba
42:58
therapy and then there's the people involved
43:00
and the people may be different than the foundation
43:03
of the concept right and and you've said that
43:06
that's changing and there are more people waking
43:08
up and realizing and and that change those changes
43:12
are beginning to take place there in the foundation
43:15
that's good to hear that's good to hear and it's
43:17
so good to hear that you had a positive experience
43:19
it's being able to acknowledge That this is who
43:23
my kid is and being able to discern what is going
43:28
to work and what is not going to work and being
43:31
able to step in and allow your child to have
43:35
their own agency as well to say this is not working
43:40
for me or this is as well. And also to be able
43:44
to say no thank you to certain aspects. yes,
43:50
please, to other aspects in finding the tools
43:55
that work for you. If you choose whatever path
43:58
that you choose, you can also be selective on
44:03
that path. You don't have to go all 100 % in
44:07
on anything. You can cherry pick what is working
44:10
and what is not working. You can leave the rest.
44:13
Yeah. I always listened to the behaviors or reactions
44:17
of my kids to any kind of therapy. And when Tristan
44:22
was our last one still in and when his ended,
44:24
he multiple times through the weeks following
44:27
cried and asked for his ABA therapist by name.
44:31
So for me, he loved it there and he felt safe
44:34
and he wanted to go back. And I have had my kids
44:37
request even recently, hey, can we ever go back
44:40
to that? Like they enjoyed going to ABA. That
44:45
is my kid that has very much a voice of his own,
44:47
but in their own ways, they have all always told
44:50
me that they liked who they were with, they liked
44:53
that type of therapy, and they were doing well
44:55
there. And so it wasn't just, oh, we're seeing
44:58
some changes here and there, so that's why we're
45:01
continuing to take them. I could tell that they
45:04
were enjoying it in general. So it felt good,
45:08
and it worked for our family. It's not going
45:11
to work for everybody, and I'm not going to tell
45:12
everybody to go do it. Definitely. You've got
45:14
to do what's best for your family. Yeah. Is there
45:24
anything else that you would like to share? No,
45:28
I'm just thankful for this opportunity to just,
45:31
it's fun sharing what we're doing. It's really,
45:34
every time I do, it just stirs that passion up
45:37
again. That reminds me. why we do what we do
45:40
um alan does a lot of work i think that man needs
45:47
the biggest shout out in the world this whole
45:48
thing beyond laying the concrete you know and
45:52
then the people that have come out to help him
45:53
learn the skills we've had uh tyler come out
45:56
and help him learn how to frame out walls and
45:58
stuff like that like we wouldn't be here without
46:01
those people willing to give of their time and
46:03
their talents So I want to say that appreciation
46:06
for the people that have had a heart to help
46:09
us and have gotten us where we are. We wouldn't
46:12
be here without them. Without Alan sacrificing
46:14
so much of his time that he has, we wouldn't
46:17
have the amazing stuff that we have. So I'm just
46:19
super appreciative of the people that have caught
46:21
on to our dream and have wanted to pour into
46:23
that and help. So thank you to those people.
46:27
We appreciate you. We would love to just get
46:32
the word out and have more families out here
46:33
that are able to find that connection that you
46:35
were talking about. So if that's a listener,
46:39
come out. Everyone is welcome here. I've talked
46:45
about my faith a little bit, but we never want
46:47
anyone to feel like, based on their age or gender
46:53
identity or sex or religion or whatever, that
46:55
they can't come out here. We want you here. You
46:59
are welcome out here. And so don't let those
47:02
kind of things hinder you, please. So, yeah,
47:05
just come out. Well, thank you so much. You are
47:09
so welcome. Thank you for inviting me to an interview.
47:13
All right. I sat with Jenny Jenkins first and
47:23
began by asking if she liked their first experience
47:26
at Autism Makers. We really liked it. You only
47:30
went the one time? Mm -hmm. Yeah. And how did
47:34
y 'all like that? Was it a good experience? Yeah,
47:38
it was good. I feel like, you know, I think my
47:42
kids, they still struggled a little bit just
47:44
with the social stuff, even with other neurodivergent
47:51
kids, but they kind of have that. A lot of places.
47:56
That's just your kids. Yeah, exactly. A lot of
48:00
neurodivergent kids struggle with that. Exactly,
48:03
yeah. But it was a really fun place. And it felt
48:09
like if my kids did start freaking out about
48:11
something or just basically it felt like they
48:15
could be unmasked and it was safe and people
48:18
weren't just judging us. you know jumping to
48:21
weird conclusions or something they were like
48:22
oh okay yeah that's fine you know we get it yeah
48:25
they get it and that's super important to have
48:27
that is like that yeah that is and that was only
48:30
the first experience yeah exactly yeah we need
48:32
to go back again it was um but but we we need
48:35
to go back because it was good i think i'm trying
48:38
to think i feel like um the swings were really
48:40
cool The barn was cool. I think my son's favorite
48:45
part was just that there was animals. He was
48:48
really into the little horses, and there was
48:50
a cat. Yes. So he was like, ooh, really excited
48:54
about that. It's the most sweetest, loving cat.
48:59
It was really sweet and patient. They don't know
49:01
how old the cat is, but it must be pretty old.
49:03
Yeah, it was so patient with him, and we can't
49:06
have a cat because... My husband's allergic,
49:09
so my kids get excited about getting to see a
49:13
cat and who will pay attention to them. And oh
49:16
my goodness, the little horses, so cute. And
49:18
the goats. The goats, yeah. So that was cool.
49:22
And then, yeah, there was fun stuff to play on
49:24
and stuff. Now that the weather's better, too,
49:28
I feel like. When we went, it was kind of rainy.
49:32
Yeah, and a little cold. It was not as fun because
49:34
of that. It was towards the end of the year,
49:36
I think. Yeah, I think so. So I'm thinking, oh,
49:39
yeah, so now it'd be glorious out there. So we
49:42
definitely need to go back. Yeah. I remember
49:47
Eva liked to sit in the swing under the treehouse.
49:53
Yeah. Yeah. It's a cozy place. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
49:57
She was sitting there and, and, uh, uh, I think
50:03
she was like info dumping about some book she
50:06
was into. She was sharing that with me. That
50:09
was wonderful. Yeah. She was into that. Um, would
50:13
you recommend it to other neurodivergent families?
50:16
Oh yeah, definitely. I think it's worth checking
50:18
out. Yeah. I, and, and I talked with the, um,
50:21
the, um, the dad. of the family for a while.
50:27
And he was just really sweet. And, um, the owners.
50:30
Yes. That would be Allan. Yeah. I talked with
50:33
him for a bit and he was really cool and understanding,
50:37
you know, sometimes I know that there's like,
50:40
uh, you know, uh, like on the website, it says
50:45
something about like, Oh, we're a Christian family
50:48
and that's part of why we do this, but we don't
50:50
proselytize. So like, but I was still a little
50:52
nervous cause we're not like that. Um, But, but
50:56
I definitely like got, I didn't get a weird vibe
51:00
from them at all in that way. Like they were
51:02
just very like cool and open about, about stuff
51:06
and like not judging and, and into providing
51:12
a really positive and supportive environment
51:17
for autistic kids and families. So that was great.
51:23
That's awesome. Is there anything else you would
51:25
like to share? Oh, just that I think that it's
51:32
really important to have these kinds of spaces,
51:34
and I wish we had more of them, honestly, because
51:40
I think our culture is not very understanding
51:43
of neurodivergent people or kids, or just kids
51:48
in general, even not neurodivergent people. It
51:50
seems like the expectations of... what kids should
51:54
be able to do, you know, how regulated they should
51:57
be in every environment and how much they should
51:59
do. Everything they're told is just not realistic
52:02
or healthy. And, um, I, I, I, I would love to
52:07
have more, um, understanding and just more grace
52:13
given to, to all people. Um, and, and spaces
52:17
like this are so important for that. Um, and
52:20
for helping, kids like mine practice being in
52:25
spaces when some spaces are so stressful that
52:28
they they it's not a good place to practice being
52:31
around other people or being in a different space
52:33
but a place like this it's like okay this is
52:36
a good place to kind of get out of your comfort
52:39
zone a little bit and still be safe definitely
52:43
yeah thank you for sharing Finally, I spoke with
52:57
her 12 -year -old daughter, Eva. Even though
52:59
she was tired, she was eager to share with you
53:02
her experience. Here's Eva. How are you doing,
53:06
Eva? Good, a bit tired. So I want to talk with
53:10
you about your experience at Autism Acres that
53:13
one time. Yeah, I remember. Yeah. What did you
53:16
think of it? It was fun. Yeah. Me and my brother
53:20
both had a lot of fun. He played with some of
53:22
the younger kids and stuff, and also just climbed
53:26
around. I had fun. There wasn't necessarily a
53:29
lot of kids my age, so I didn't hang out with
53:32
people, but both me and my brother had a lot
53:36
of fun. There were some really nice animals,
53:38
and it was really fun. After some point, I remember...
53:46
Everyone was super nice, and it was just really
53:48
fun. It was very nice and outdoorsy. After a
53:51
while, I got kind of tired, and I ended up sitting.
53:53
There were these little hammocks, and I sat in
53:55
one, and I listened to a book. But it was just
53:58
really nice. It was really fun. Me and my brother
54:03
had a lot of fun. That's wonderful. I'm glad
54:06
to hear that. What was your favorite part about
54:09
it? I don't know. It was just kind of the out
54:14
doorsiness, I guess. Like, there was a specific
54:16
bit, but I just loved, like, the outdoorsiness.
54:19
And everyone was very nice. I just loved the
54:21
outdoorsiness. Would you recommend it to other
54:25
neurodivergent kids? Yeah. Yeah? And what would
54:29
you tell them? Uh... It's really nice, and it's
54:38
outdoorsy, but there also are a couple inside
54:40
places, and it's really nice. And you'll most
54:42
likely find some other people to hang out with,
54:45
but also there's very much places you can go
54:47
and be alone, and it's just very nice. Awesome.
54:50
Do you want to go back? Yeah, I definitely want
54:52
to go back again. Awesome. And you don't mind
54:56
that it's a little bit of a drive? No, I actually
54:58
really enjoyed the drive. The drive was actually
55:00
really enjoyable to me. Wonderful. Because I
55:04
really like drive. I always like long drives
55:07
where you see, like, out... and a lot of it was
55:10
just you saw a bunch of forest and stuff on the
55:13
drive, so I really enjoyed that, the drive, actually.
55:16
Wonderful. Thank you, Eva. If you have kids or
55:28
teens that would appreciate this environment
55:30
and would love to visit Autism Acres with them
55:33
or help Sarah and Alan with volunteering your
55:36
time or resources, or if you would like to find
55:39
out how to partner with them, you can email them
55:42
at asyoung at autismacres .org or call 360 -559
55:50
-4358. You can also visit their website at autismacres
55:55
.org or find them on Instagram and send Sarah
55:59
a message. That's it for today's resource report
56:10
produced by Pathways to Agency. At Pathways to
56:14
Agency, we are driven by the belief that everyone
56:16
should have the tools and support to achieve
56:19
their goals and thrive in their communities.
56:22
Our mission is to bridge the gaps in understanding,
56:25
accessibility and trust by connecting individuals
56:29
to resources and sharing information and processes
56:33
that can lead to personal and community growth.
56:37
Resource Report offers information about existing
56:40
and emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
56:44
Find out more at pathwaystoagency .org. You can
56:49
also find our shows archived indefinitely on
56:53
rss .com slash podcasts slash resource hyphen
57:00
report. Till next time, and thanks for listening.