Tuesday was World Autism Awareness Day, and April is Autism Acceptance Month. Albany County is recognizing its neurodivergent residents.
Bring On The Spectrum is a sensory gym in Albany. Several members of the gym designed the newest reusable bag in the series created by County Executive Dan McCoy, featuring a Tree of Life and hearts drawn by each person.
Founder Lisa Audi says BOTS was created to give people like her daughter Carabelle an accepting place. Audi says the world needs to become more accommodating to all people.
“I’m not a huge fan of awareness and acceptance as a month personally, because I just feel like that’s stuff that should already be,” Audi said.
Audi says she’s diabetic and conditions like hers and her daughter’s are permanent, not just there when they’re in the public eye.
Mary Rozak is a spokesperson for Albany County.
“I think we are aware of what autism is. Autism Acceptance Day, OK, we all accept who we are as individuals, right? Autism Inclusion month, you know what? That's getting to be more along the lines of what I think we need to be thinking about. Because our world is the way our world is because of its diversity, because of our ability to integrate, to accept, and to include,” Rozak said.
Audi says her goal is to make BOTS a space where people of all neurotypes can come together and form friendships. She says the county hosting events there is helping reach that goal.
“We've had an art class here. And on Friday, we start a comic book club,” Audi said.
Audi says society needs to learn to recognize everyone as equals.
“We all have certain things that we want done a certain way. And obviously, that's, you know, a very specific kind of, you know, quirkiness for lack of a better term, but we all have it. So at the end of the day, our folks just have it in a little bit more of a heightened way,” Audi said.
Brice Skiff is one of the bag designers.
“I'm 17 years old. And I'm a junior in Colonie Central High School. I like this bag project and working on it with my friends. BOTS is amazing place. And I like going to their fitness class, Cobra defense, and Dungeons and Dragons,” Skiff said.
Audi says the bag design was a group effort.
“Each child started with the artwork, they passed it to their other friends. And so, everybody collaborated on the final image. And then we actually put it out to vote to all of our BOTS family members, once we had all five pieces done, and this is the winning one,” Audi said.
Guilderland High Schooler Jacob Smart is a gym member. He says it’s a lot of fun.
“I come to play every single day when I'm on spring break,” Smart said.
He was sitting on one of the many swings in the gym, and adds he likes sports too, including air hockey.
“Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out where the puck goes,” Smart said.
There’s also a roller slide.
“I'm just like a human hot dog, going down on the rollers,” Smart said.
As for the gym itself, Jacob gives it two thumbs up.
“I recommend Bring on the Spectrum. It's a fun place,” Smart said.
Carabelle agrees, though she says she prefers foozball.
“I flip the players to kick the ball faster. Yeah, I'm very competitive,” the younger Audi said.
And she adds it’s a great place to be social.
“I like to play. I like to see my friends,” Carabelle adds.
More information about BOTS and its programs can be found here, and a picture of the bag design is at the top of this web post.
