District Five school’s “Project Au-some” growing empathy, understanding about autism

A Lexington-Richland District Five school has launched a new pair mentorship program aimed at growing empathy and understanding about students with autism.

Harbison West Elementary School’s Project Au-some links fifth grade “Big Buddies” with students in the school’s class for preschoolers with developmental delays.  Once a week, fifth graders in Brenna Lamprey’s class volunteer their recess time to work on fine motor skills and lead physical activities with their “Little Buddies” in Beth Reilly’s class. The fifth graders are training their Little Buddies for an upcoming Special Olympics Young Athletes Expo event at Spring Hill High School.

“The project started with reading a story on autism. We wanted to promote and build empathy and social skills in fifth graders… but it grew into more than we ever imagined,” Reilly said. “When we presented the opportunity, all the students in the fifth grade class volunteered to spend their recess helping the preschoolers. It’s been amazing to see the leadership skills and empathy skills that grew out of this.”

Big Buddies create lesson plans for each meeting and reflect on results to make improvements. A community-based instruction field study is also being planned for the spring, and students are expanding the program through their curiosity and interest in helping, educators said.

“The students began asking questions and researching disabilities on their own,” said Lamprey, adding that the fifth graders plan to share their research projects during a school-wide Gallery Walk. “It will continue to grow. We already have another fifth grade class that’s pairing up with another preschool class…we want it to spread throughout the school and really build that school community.”

During a December Project Au-some session, Little Buddies jumped from a small raised platform to a designated spot a few inches below. For Project Au-some Big Buddies like Jeremiah Hough and Ladislo Mederos, participating in the activities with the preschoolers has taught them a lot.

“Practice makes perfect. That’s what I learned,” said Hough. “My Little Buddy wasn’t jumping with two feet, and we had to practice a few times before he got it. After a while, he learned how to do it correctly though.”

Mederos added, “You need to have a backup plan. Sometimes the activities didn’t take as long as we planned, but luckily we had a backup plan to read if we got done faster than what we thought.”

Big Buddy Robert Mendez said students with autism aren’t that different from him and his fifth grade peers. “They can do it. Learning anything just takes practice and help.”