RICHMOND, Va. — April is National Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
With a heightened spotlight, many know more about autism and those who have been diagnosed, yet there are still areas that are under served. This has motivated one college group into action.
At first glance, the Kickin' It Coalition soccer club at the University of Richmond would not give the impression of being anything out of the ordinary.
Outside of the players being a little younger than usual, it would resemble thousands of similar workouts across the country.
And you could look intently all day and still not figure out what is special about this group. Until you talk to the parents.
"I found out about this through work. And Lauren was just getting everything started, I happened to have some equipment that I was able to donate to Lauren. So I found out pretty early on, and I was very, very excited," Katie Putnam said.
Putnam's daughter Audrey is one of the campers and was diagnosed with autism when she was 2 and a half.
"All of the typical things you dream of when you're pregnant and at two and a half when you still haven't heard the words mama or I love you, you kind of have to take a step back and redo those expectations of life, and it's hard," Putnam said.
While Audrey is still mostly nonverbal, she has found other ways to let her mom know that this is something she looks forward to each week as an opportunity to do what other kids her age are doing.
"I'm never gonna hear Audrey say, 'That was a lot of fun,' you know, like, 'I really enjoyed that, Let's go back,' I know that she's excited, because when I say it at home, I'm saying, 'It's time to go to soccer!' She's waiting for me at the door," Putnam said.
The camp was created by Lauren Shin, a sophomore at the University of Richmond whose interests in developmental behavior and in soccer led to the marriage that became this camp.
"I loved working with the children who had autism, and because I got to hear so many stories where, like, they weren't getting the same access to different extracurricular opportunities, I thought, like, this would be a good thing that I could start," Shin said.
The camp started back in the fall with Shin canvassing the UR campus hoping to find a handful of fellow students who might volunteer to help.
"We had 10 people in mind that we thought we were gonna, you know, start this organization with. But yeah, we were really shocked, because we reserved a smaller conference room, and then it was just like, overflowing," Shin explained.
The camp now has over 100 volunteers, some who love soccer, some who love working with kids and some like Cameron Tyson who grew up with an autistic sibling and understands just how much something like this opportunity can help.
"So Lauren were brought the idea to me, and because of my past experience, my brother and how much of inspiration he's been to me, and my love for soccer, I thought it was just a perfect opportunity," Tyson said.
Shin and her volunteers have gotten training and resources from the Autism Society of Central Virginia. They have gotten so much more out of watching the change in the kids that come out each week.
"These kids just don't have the opportunities and the opportunities and the programs around them to have, like just to play. And I just think you can see that with these kids that are every Sunday, they come out here with just a newfound excitement," Tyson said.
"They're very grateful, I think, like, there's not a lot of opportunities like this for their kid. And I think parents are the biggest advocates for their children, and we kind of want to be advocates as well. So I think they're just super appreciative that we brought this program, and like spending some time on a Sunday to make this happen," Shin said.
"Not only is Audrey learning, but I truly believe that these U of R kids are learning too from our kids, and they're gonna be able to go out into the world and spread that, and I think that's more important than the soccer skills anybody's learning out here," Putnam said.
Shin and her band of volunteer coaches will be wrapping up their spring sessions this Sunday but they will be adding more on their website.
In addition to being all volunteer, none of the students are getting any college credit for the program either.
They all feel they're getting a greater perspective instead.
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