Pictures from the Amazing Race to Understand Autism

Last week my friend Judy and I ran the Amazing Race to Understand Autism, a race organized by Justin McOmber for his Eagle Scout Project. He did a phenomenal job.  I think this race should have counted for five Eagle Scouts projects at least.  These are just a few of the things he did:  He had an online registration system, he appeared on a local news station to explain what his project was all about, our local newspaper covered the upcoming race, he organized volunteers to help with the race, and he received sponsorship from several businesses to support the race and provide prices.  The race earned at least $5,000, all of which went directly to Autism Speaks. 

Each team received a sheet of clues that lead to 13 stations around town. We had a to perform a task or challenge at each station to help us understand autism a little better.

At this station Gregory, Justin’s brother, demonstrated how he communicates through sign language.

Here are a few of our competitors. Each team dressed up in a costume. Judy and I chose to wear baby blankets around our shoulders, a hark back to Gregory who often puts a blanket around himself to block out stimulation.

At this station, we are doing a few belly dancing moves. People with autism can learn a lot through physical activity and repetition.

People with autism can be sensitive to bright lights and a change in light. We had to look at this strobe light to get a sense of how disturbing that can be.

The woman in the picture is Justin’s mom Amy!  She’s awesome!

And this is his dad Howard at one of the stations.  Many things impress me about Amy, Howard, and their whole family, but one thing that kept coming to mind was how many friends and connections they have in our community to be able to make a race like this happen.

These are actual cow eyes.  We were asked to touch these to understand how a lot of things can be startling and unsettling to a person with autism, and they need time to adjust.

We learned a little bit of sign language.  “Good luck with the race!” and “I love you!”

We were asked to tie a few boots with a set of gloves to understand how people with autism have difficulty with fine motor skills.

Here we are riding a bike designed for people with autism.  This is a $3,000 bike that was leant to the race.

We pushed a wheel chair while we sat in it, something that was much harder than I expected.

We shot hoops while we being distracted with balls and noise.

We ran into the local grocery store to buy a few cans to donate to Northwest Harvest, which in turn provides nutritious food to many people, including those with autism.

We learned that people with autism love carbohydrates and could eat that all day, so they need guidance to eat a balanced meal.

Spinning around to feel how disorienting doing some things can be.

 

There’s Justin in the middle. I can’t say enough how good of a job Justin did with his Eagle Scout Project! He should be so proud!

The guys on the right came in a few seconds before Judy and me.  They got first!  The boys ran an extra two miles because they lost their piece of paper at the top of a hill.  Judy and I came in second, which was a complete surprise to us! A lot of the other racers missed a station at the top of the hill and had to go back but Judy and I had noticed it before heading down the hill. 

I know there’s so much more to understand about autism, and that we can learn a lot from people with autism and their families.  I appreciated getting a peek into the world of a person who lives with autism.