Raising awareness rather than funds was the goal of a special spirit week held at Frederick V. Pankow Center April 1-5, a spirit week dedicated to autism acceptance.
“We often have spirit weeks around homecoming and snow coming time, this is an opportunity for Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, and also World Autism Day recognized on the 2nd,” Pankow teacher Deidra Jacobs said.
The center, located in Clinton Township, is a L’Anse Creuse Public Schools building. Jacobs collaborated with school social workers Danielle Bolden and Carrie Thompson to develop Autism Acceptance and Awareness Spirit Week. Jacobs said the special spirit week was held for the first time this school year, and was designed to highlight the strengths and abilities of autistic youth.
“It is our hope that this weeklong event will energize our students and catapult our community into an environment of inclusion for our students on the spectrum,” Jacobs said.
All schools in the L’Anse Creuse Public Schools district were invited to participate, as social media posts and fliers were distributed district-wide.
Jacobs added the spirit week was created to help promote and create opportunities to build connections between students. Wearing something special for spirit week could help serve as a conversation starter.
“This is our initial year. There is not a fundraising component right now, or an incentive or a competition. Those are amazing, but we really just want attention and to build on this and grow the week in our scope. We are just passionate about getting the word out. Awareness is good and acceptance is better, accommodation and access. They are not so different than any other young people,” Jacobs said.
Autism Acceptance and Awareness Spirit Week began on April 1, when students returned from spring break. This date was selected for Love and Acceptance during spirit week, to promote inclusion. Students and staff were encouraged to wear red to represent love or blue to represent acceptance, including hats.
April 2 was chosen as Autism is a Spectrum Tuesday. Students and staff were encouraged to recognize the vast and diverse spectrum of autism by wearing rainbow, tie dye or infinity symbols on clothing, including hats.
“What we are trying to do is use this also as an opportunity to inform the entire school community, staff, parapros, everyone, as well as students, of the unique characteristics people with neurodiversion have. Infinity is a common symbol in the autism community,” Jacobs said.
April 3 was Wear Your Passion Wednesday. Students and staff were encouraged to wear clothing, including hats, to show what they are most interested in and passionate about.
April 4 was Visual Communication Thursday. Students and staff were encouraged to wear clothing, including hats, that communicated who they are, where they come from, or something important about themselves.
April 5 was Sensory Friendly Friday. Students and staff were encouraged to wear comfortable clothing with soft textures or muted colors. Hats, pajamas and sunglasses were permitted.
Jacobs teaches special education for the high school level cognitive impairment program at Pankow. As part of employment and job readiness for her students, she had students work on sorting, organizing and delivering autism acceptance shirts ordered by staff members.
“We hope to move beyond autism ‘awareness’ toward acceptance and to help inform our school community about the need for both increased access and accommodations for people with neurodiversity,” Jacobs said.
