Since we have gotten involved with Garlyn Place, new types of adventures are happening! And today, November 7, 2025, was our first “outing” with the group…

Garlyn Place and LIT Nursing have partnered for a time of education for our kiddos. Giving the LIT nursing students opportunities to mix and mingle with the special needs community and giving our kiddos the opportunity to visit and spend some time on a college campus. Now for Tommy, he did not know that he was on a college campus or even exactly what was taking place today. Just that it was an adventure.

Most of you that follow our stories, I always try and prepare him with a booklet to make the day not so scary. And I failed on this one:( I was not 100% sure what to expect myself, so I did not know how to prepare him either. We had a bit of a rough start, because when you walk into a new building with lots of new people and their in scrubs and white coats it makes for a tense unknown situation.

He was paired up with some great nursing students that worked really hard to make him enjoy his time there. Once Tommy realized that he was not the “patient” and he would not be “doctored” he did much better. Several hallways; as we walked through, were playing music and that really helped ease his mind.

The plan for the day was a scavenger hunt that with “clues” that would take you through classrooms and stations where there were things to watch and learn about. This was a little difficult because Tommy did not really understand the concept of reading and following the direction, but his nursing students helped with this process.

CPR

Our first stop was watching a demonstration of CPR. Tommy was unsure about the “dummies!” I wasn’t certain that he would walk in the room, but they changed the terminology and referred to them as “dolls” and he was willing to take a closer look. As they started their demonstration, he was intensely watching their every move. And was willing to give it a try:)

We went through a handwashing station. Explaining that you should sing the Happy Birthday song in order to wash at least 2 minutes of time to get a good cleaning. We then moved to a First Aide Station, and he administered band aids, and a wrist wrap bandage. As you can see “kangaroo and cheetah” made the trip! LOL

A Bit More Fun - Wheel Chair Races!

To end the scavenger hunt we were led to an interactive wheelchair race. Tommy looked at the wheelchair and quickly said, “no thank you” …

I asked the students to demonstrate what was fixing to take place to see if we could not get him interested! Once they did, he realized that it was a fun thing and was happy to be apart!

This is the hardest part when it comes to Tommy. People just don’t always know the best way to help him understand the situation. Talking and explaining is not normally his communication preferences. He learns by looking and watching. When you are talking, his brain is so far ahead of anything that you are saying he would have to rewind 15 of his thoughts to come back and connect with your words… This is why short words work well with him and I am sure other autistic kids with limited communication skills. Such as: “Let’s do it”, “Let’s go”, “More", “All Done”, “Good Job”, “Wait, you’re turn”. So even if he is 12 steps ahead when he hears these short words, they are triggers and bring him back to where you are!

This time he was so into it, he forgot his rider! LOL

After our successful race, they had a dance party! This was the best part of Tommys day. The girls could not get over how he wanted to learn the line dances with them and how quickly he picked up the moves!

We ended our day with lunch in the Dining Hall at the University. It was busy with lots of students, but Tommy did not seem bothered by the noise. He had a special treat as the director went and got him some French fries as there was nothing there that he would eat. We were very grateful for her thoughtfulness in making sure that he was accommodated for.

What started off as a day that wondered if we would make it through the first ten minutes to ending with a great experience. Only God knows how Tommy really felt about the day, but I still feel that his involvement in things out of his comfort zone are good for him. No matter how they start, if we can feel accomplished at the end of the day, then we have done a good thing.