Autism Luncheon

 As both my brother and I walked into the building, which is called the Adult Social Club, we were greeted by staff and many other people with autism who said hello. The menu for lunch was Papa John’s Pizza. We both had pepperoni pizza and sat at the table to the left, closest to the window.

We officially got started at 12 PM. To begin, we played an icebreaker game. Mrs. Haley had everyone pick a number from 1–20. The number you picked was how many pieces of toilet paper you received, and the number of pieces determined how many facts you had to share about yourself.

One participant had an iPad device that spoke words for him, which I thought was very interesting and useful for nonverbal people with autism.

Next, we played a game called Guess the Disney. We were divided into three teams, and our team was called Music Club. The other two teams were Monsters Inc. and Team Rocket. In the game, we had to guess the movie name based on a song that played in the movie.

During our turn, my older brother David correctly named the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from the movie Toy Story. Mrs. Mandy joined our team and knew more answers than I did. On another turn, David correctly named a song from Aladdin. We guessed one song wrong—it was from Ratatouille. We had discussed it as a team and guessed The Princess and the Frog, but that wasn’t it. Another incorrect guess was Lilo & Stitch. Later, we got Pocahontas right on our turn. Both Monster Inc. and our team, Music Club, had six tally marks.

After that, the game switched up. We had to guess the song from whatever Disney movie it came from. Many different movies and songs were played, and we didn’t know a lot of them. Next, we had to guess the audio from the Disney movies as it played.

The afternoon was filled with laughter, excitement, and fun.

— Daniel

Through David’s Eyes

When me and my brother walked into the Autism Group on Saturday,

Which is the Autism Society Social Club,

We were greeted by staff

And many other people

Who are also on the spectrum like us.

We had lunch together,

We ate Papa John’s Pizza,

And then we did some activities.

We first each had a sheet of toilet paper.

We had to pick a number between

1 through 20, and most of us

Either picked 2 or 3, and some picked 4.

It was like an activity to break the ice

A little bit and get to know each other.

The amount of sheets we had

Were the number of facts we had to share

About ourselves. If you had one, two, or

Three sheets of toilet paper,

You had to share something

About yourself.

Then after everyone did that and got to

Know each other better,

We played some Disney trivia games

On the projector.

One was “Guess the Song”

And one was “Guess the Movie.”

We were divided into 3 teams.

We were the Music Club,

The other teams were Team Rocket

And Monsters Inc.

I was doing pretty well guessing the ones

I knew on my own, but if I got stuck,

One of the staff members,

Named Ms. Mandy, would help me

Guess what movie it was.

Some were movies

That I’ve never watched before,

That I’d never even heard about,

So they were new to me.

We had 3 seconds to guess the movies,

So it was a good game and a challenge.

But I had fun and enjoyed it.

And that’s what it was all about—

To make friends and connect with others.

I experienced a new environment

With people who are on the spectrum

Just like me.

There was one person

Who was sensitive to light,

Wore sunglasses,

But was really intelligent,

And very smart.

He knew every song and movie

In the blink of an eye,

Without guessing once.

Then there was this kid

With green headphones,

Who seemed to not like loud noises.

He didn’t really talk much,

He was very quiet.

Then there was another kid

Who was nonverbal,

And used an iPad to communicate.

Which I thought was very useful

For nonverbal autistic kids

Who are on the spectrum

And need a way to communicate with people.

Even though I’ve been to this club before

With my brother,

I really enjoyed coming back,

And spending time together with him

And with this group.

It was really fun and I had a good time,

And I’m looking forward

To seeing you all again.

• David