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A new story about New Story: Teaching kids with autism

Before you can teach a child with severe autism about algebra, Shakespeare and World War II, you have to teach them how to share, how to raise their hand to get permission to talk in class, even how to ask for the type of food they want.

That’s the challenge you’ll see every day at a school like New Story, a specialized school that opened last year to help children with autism, as well as some other behavioral challenges.

As part of National Autism Awareness Month, I stopped by the school to check out what they do. There’s a reason these kids (and I say “kids,” even though a few are old enough to vote) need to be taught outside of their home school district, and it’s evident right away. Although everyone, from the parents to the district to New Story, would love to have the child with all of their friends back in their home district’s classroom, sometimes it’s just not possible, either right now or possibly at all.

The entire goal of New Story is to get the kids ready to either go back to the home district, or eventually get them ready for life after school - give them life skills to become more independent and possibly get a job.

These are some sweet kids. One child, Wayne Jess, was probably one of the funniest interviews I’ve done in some time, as he told me about his dreams of becoming a football player/cop, among other life achievements. I hope someday he does.

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Check out the main story here. And in this sidebar story, you can read about Autism York, a local advocacy group that’s a great resource for parents.

New Story also has money set aside to help offset costs associated with raising a child with autism. Go to newstory.com/fund for details; you don’t need to have a child at the school to be eligible. And you can also buy a blue light bulb from them as part of an awareness campaign.