HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- If you spend time with 9-year-old Ty Dorion you can easily watch his creativity and focus quickly become clear.
His parents, Nick and Kefu, said watching him now reminds them of the journey their family took to get to this point.
"He’s a very unique mind. He thinks in black and white," said Nick Dorion.
Before his second birthday, Ty was diagnosed with autism. It's estimated that one in every 36 children receive an autism diagnosis, according to advocates.
“Half a year with tears and sadness and isolation and cluelessness about where to start," Kefu Dorion said about the early days of their family's journey.
The Dorions soon after got connected with the Autism Society of Central Virginia (ASCV), a non-profit focused on improving the lives of those living with autism in our region.
Once Ty's younger brother Owen — who is not on the autism spectrum — joined the picture, the family began to regularly attend the hundreds of events ASCV hosts each year for families of those living with autism.
"We started bringing both of them to all these activities, and we just started really feeling like we found our community, feel like we found people - people who understand our journey," Kefu said.
“I’d say in the more recent years, we’ve tried to figure out, what are some of those things that really motivate him," Nick said.
Recently, both Ty and Owen landed a seat at CodeVA for a series of coding workshops.
ASCV partnered with CodeVA educators to expose children with autism and their families to concepts and creativity that are inherent to computer science.
Over three weeks, participants learned all about circuits: starting with the basics and then working their way up to crafting cards with LED lights, and designing a mini light show using Lite Brites.
"Coding is like step-by-step instructions, it really aligned with his pattern of thinking," Kefu said.
"[Ty's] very fact-based, and computers obviously operate that way. They worked with circuits, so point A to point B. I think it was very conducive to the way his mind works," Nick said.
Ann Flippin, the executive director of ASCV, said the partnership with CodeVA unlocks creativity, but also a skill set that many kids with autism can cultivate moving forward.
“A lot of our kids are wonderful at focusing on certain elements, they’re very detail-oriented," Flipping said.
"This certain set of skills they’re learning with coding can really help them develop additional skills. A lot of our kids are really talented at STEM-type activities, and this just helps embrace that and really build upon it.”
"Since our first summer of kid camps, we've witnessed the incredible creativity, imagination, and thoughtfulness that so many students with autism are able to express through the creative communications medium of computer science,” said Chris Dovi, the executive director at CodeVA.
“We proudly embark on this journey, fostering creativity and celebrating diversity in computer science with the ASCV.”
“When you start this early, you really build opportunities for him really build on that foundation. Maybe it’s a skill set for life because, for families with autism, it’s really hard to think about how they’ll transition into adulthood," Kefu said.
The Dorions said that is a little bit easier to consider Ty after the coding workshop and with the community they've built through ASCV. They encouraged other families that have a loved one with autism to get involved with other families.
“There’s still a long journey to go, but we’re happy with where he is, to be honest. He’s grown beyond our expectations. It’s all because everyone gave us that," Kefu said.
The participants in the workshop will show off some of their work at a holiday-themed party scheduled for this Saturday. ASCV said the number of families they work with continues to grow, as does the number of events they host each year.
ASCV said membership is up to 700 member families (up from 546 this time last year), and the organization has hosted more than 400 total programs this year (17% more than last year) reaching more than 9,000 participants.
You can learn more on their website.
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