Our Kids have an important Story to tell
Cara and I were so excited to launch a new action-packed program at the start of the year, but like everyone else around the world, covid 19 had other plans. We were only four weeks into the program when we had to cancel all future sessions. It was such a shame, because after recently receiving funding from the NDIS to enrich our program, we had lots of cool incursions planned and had to cancel all of them. B-u-m-m-e-r.
Not ones to be stopped in our tracks, we brain-stormed how to keep our kids connected when they couldn’t be in the same room. Hmmmm. Not very easy when our kids range in age from 5-10, have different communication needs and varying interests in technology. I knew my son wouldn’t want to Skype, or Zoom or have a house party, and we suspected many of the other kids would feel the same way.
So we decided the best way to keep our kids connected was to tap into one of their greatest strengths – their creativity! We decided to give all our families a green screen and asked the kids to film themselves talking about something they were passionate about. Our first video was about different countries around the world, followed shortly by favourite animals, and culminating in a video about food.
Cara and I were humbled by the responses we got from our All Stars families. During a stressful time, when schools closed, routines got disrupted and families had to navigate a new normal, we were flooded with videos every week. And these weren’t half-arsed videos done on the fly. The kids and their families had worked together to create something unique – something that represented their interests and showcased their talents. They made our jobs easy, as we pieced together the remote packages into a seamless, collaborative story.
And I guess this is what All Stars is all about, and why creating a collaborative project like this is so emblematic of our charity’s ethos. Our children are all very different. They don’t necessarily learn or play in the same way and they’re not interested in the same things. But they come together each week to tell a story. And this is a story about harmony. When they’re together, they don’t focus on each other’s differences; there’s not one voice that resonates above the rest. Instead, they work together so everyone’s voice can be heard. It’s a story that’s important to tell and one that’s beautiful to listen to.
We would’ve loved to have be there when our kids watched the completed green screen videos. I’m sure they would’ve laughed at their cameo appearances and enjoyed seeing themselves online, as part of an All Star Cast. But Instead, we sat back as their parents proudly shared the videos with their friends and family. And as the viewing numbers rose into the thousands, touching people we’d never met, we knew we’d done a good job helping our kids tell their story. All Stars kids are proud of who they are, they have important things to say and they share their message with greater acuity when they tell it together.
Check out our kids’ green screen videos on the All Stars for Autism Youtube channel. And if you’d like to have a go at making your own, stay tuned for more resources to follow.