Mount Vernon School's 2nd Annual Autism Acceptance Day Wows Crowds

MOUNT VERNON, NY — The Mount Vernon community came together recently in an event that celebrated not only what makes us different, but also what we share.

From the Mount Vernon City School District.

Rainbow and blue shirts recognizing people with autism covered the field at Traphagen School, as students and families played games, ate together and connected with each other to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month. Over 500 community members, students and parents attended the Mount Vernon City School District’s second annual Autism Acceptance Day on Monday, April 29, 2024.

Parent liaisons greeted families as they arrived and promoted upcoming District events such as the Pathways to Healing webinar on Thursday, April 30.

"This is great; it brings awareness to autism, it brings everybody out and the kids get to play and enjoy," said Kedon Lee, father of second grade Pennington student Chloe Lee. "The District should continue doing more stuff like this, just to bring the community together. For autism, this just brings awareness to help people know what’s going on and how many people it affects."

The celebration was organized by the District’s Autism Acceptance Committee, the Special Education PTA (SEPTA) and the Mount Vernon Federation of Teachers. Community partners such as the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Gamma Xi Zeta Chapter, had booths to share what resources are available for families.

"We put this together for a family free event," said Kathryn Santoro, special education and inclusion teacher at Traphagen and member of the Autism Acceptance Committee. "There are three bouncy houses, there’s cotton candy, there is popcorn, there's Bingo and there’s a lot of community resources for parents. Also, inside there’s sensory stations like digging and playing with Play-Doh for fine-motor skills."

Some people with autism like to work with their hands, so digging in sand or playing with Play Doh can be calming for them. Instead of being overwhelmed by loud noises, they were able to relax in a quiet environment, settle down and focus on something that they are interested in.
Children rotated through several bounce houses, inflatable obstacle courses and games, running and laughing from each station to the next. They ate pizza, chips, popcorn and cotton candy in between playing.

"I think that this speaks to the fact that we have a very robust population of students that have autism and other disabilities, and it celebrates them and allows them to come out, have a good time and be one with everyone else," said Board of Education Trustee Warren Mitchell. "We’re all here for the same reason: to get an education and enjoy each other’s time."

The Mount Vernon SEPTA, which was founded in the past year, has held a training session with the Westchester Institute on Human Development on understanding individualized education programs (IEP). They are planning an event at MVHS later this year for special education students who are transitioning out of high school.

"We just started SEPTA a little bit less than a year ago, and we want to support families and children in the District, especially those in special education," said Bianca Lopez-Bakke, the SEPTA president and mother of Benjamin Turner Academy second grader Isabella Bakke. "This event is really great. We wanted to support as much as possible in terms of having activities for children with different neurodiversity and having activities for families to take their children, whether they are neurotypical or neruo-atypical, and have a space to have fun."