On Thursday, February 20, during periods 10 and 11, students within the Autistic Support/Life Skills Support class showcased their autobiographies. The Coffee Shop Read occurred in The Place, adjacent to the library. The students of AS/LSS presented their autobiographies for their parents and those in attendance. 

The presentations were made by the students in Ms. Ritter’s and Ms. Vitale’s classes. The autobiographies were completed with the assistance of the students’ buddies in Mrs. Omasits’ 10th period English class. This is the first-year students have been paired with a buddy outside the program. 

“The whole process helps to make NASH a little bit smaller for the students and the English students world a bit bigger,” said Ms. Vitale. “The AS/LSS students looked forward to the times their buddies would come to work on their projects and were so happy to see them.”

At the beginning of this semester, students in Mrs. Omasits’ class spent time getting to know their buddies. The AS/LSS students were paired with multiple buddies with whom they built a relationship. The buddies participated in a variety of fun getting to know each other activities, such as a pizza party, games and music. 

The Coffee Shop Read has been around for the past three years. This year was the first year AS/LSS teachers partnered with another English class. This opportunity gives students a better understanding of the program and its overall goals. 

“It allows students the opportunity to get to know those enrolled in AS/LSS and realize they are just like everyone else,” said Ms. Vitale, “even though maybe the students in AS/LSS do not communicate the same way.” 

Students enrolled within the support class made slideshow presentations for this year’s Autobiography Coffee Shop Read using the Keynote app on iPads. The first slide depicted an animation, hand-sketched by the student using a selfie of themselves. The following slides pertained to the lives of the students. These slides included information regarding the students’ personal interests, families and hobbies. 

This annual event is for the students to showcase who they are. The program is set up as a gallery, and active panels are arranged to walk through displaying each student’s presentation. Both the parents and the students’ buddies attended the event.

Moving forward, the partnership will continue in the years to come. The relationship between the students and their buddies has been vital to creating a compassionate environment, and the parents of the kids are extremely moved by this partnership.

“We can’t express how grateful we are to these students and appreciative that they took the time to get to know our kids. It has absolutely meant the world to my son,” commented one parent, Susan Wagner.

The experience itself has provided all those involved with a better understanding of our world. In regard to planning for the future, this cooperation between classes has great potential to grow beyond a single class.

“I feel like every kid should have to do something like this,” Steven Reybein said. “It was definitely hard in the beginning but it was so much fun to get to know them and work with them. They get so excited whenever we’d come in. Their parents wrote some stuff down for them and it’s an amazing thing to read, their lives behind the scenes. I wish we could do more with them!” 

It is clear the impact this has made on both students in AS/LSS and those who come alongside them.

“It opened my eyes to see how different things could be,” said Delaney Haller, one of the buddies.

Marcie Emory, was extremely touched by her son’s buddies.

“It means everything because Charlie is a very happy boy always wearing a smile on his face,” she said. “This year has been really difficult for him because he lost his father. It’s not always easy for him to interact with people and with this program, he can get time with people who are not his family. I think this program is moving for everyone involved. Just as he has been touched by these students, he touches the lives around him. I am very grateful that ever since kindergarten, he has been accepted by this district. This is a wonderful program.” 

The Coffee Shop read was considered a successful event by all who were involved and who attended. It will likely be a tradition carried on in future years.