Game Clubs; A good idea in any neighborhood! -APOV

Game Clubs; A good idea in any neighborhood!
By Mindy Wiegand

It’s not easy being unique. It’s not easy being the parent of someone who hears that different drummer either. I know nothing could possibly pierce more deeply than perceiving my child enduring mental or physical pain. I admire my child’s talents and appreciate her original observations because she challenges me to step out of the usual way I interpret the world. If only others her age could embrace the enrichment she offers to them in the same way as her family!

The average peer doesn’t know why my child will talk continuously and obsessively about the same topic. Other kids her age have asked me why she says the same stuff over and over again. Her unaffected social simplicity leaves her wide open to the more savvy kids of her age group. It’s an uneasy truce made with myself everyday when I send my child out onto the social stage of public school that the skills learned will hopefully overcome the pain of acquiring them.

However, there are very motivated parents who have incredible energy and have started clubs for ASD children. Imagine going someplace where talking obsessively of your favorite things (I prefer to think of it as being a specialist), can be completely accepted. There are parents and kids forming clubs where fun and activities can be enjoyed in a relaxing atmosphere. In Oregon, there is a game club for ASD kids that has received recent local attention in the news. Parents managed to pull together donations from generous donors such as Infocus, a multimedia equipment company that donated high end equipment to the club. The full link to the recent news article featured in “The Oregonian” will be provided below.

There may not be a game night in your town, but the most recurring theme I believe any parent of an ASD child learns is that we are on our own. We are the pioneers in the unventured territory of integrating our ASD children into a world that is their birthright. If there is no treatment, we push on and find treatment. If there is no place for our children to feel accepted, we make a place for them. So let’s get out there and make our own game clubs or book clubs or whatever clubs. It’s not going to happen unless we do for ourselves.

Link to the Asperger’s Game Club article as featured in "The Oregonian"

Mindy Wiegand
Art & Leisure Editor - APOV on Autism