Young adults with autism have their voices heard with podcast show | FOX 2 Detroit

Young adults with autism have their voices heard with podcast show

The Lincoln Park Mixter Institute is a post-high school program for young adults with autism. On their podcast, where students with autism interview various guests, then publishes it for the world to hear.

The backstory:

The program, titled "Mixing it up with Mixter" started six years ago and not even the teacher who started it, could have imagined how it would grow.

At the far corner of the classroom inside Lincoln Park’s Mixter Institute, the podcast begins.

Host: "Hi everyone and welcome to Mixing it up with Mixter."

On this day, FOX 2's own Dave Spencer in the hot seat.

Brandt: Question one, what does a typical day look like for you?"

"I go out in the street, I interview everyday people and I tell the most important stories of the day," Spencer said.

The podcast is run entirely by students with autism who craft the questions, record the interviews, and publish them online for the world to hear, with the help of their special education teacher Kari Thomas.

Thomas is the special education teacher/podcasting and marketing

"I teach podcasting and marketing to students, young adults with autism," she said.

This experiment started six years ago.

"We had a big need for communication and community outreach and connection to what we have going on around us," she said.

And the results speak for themselves.

"They’ve learned how to have interaction," Thomas said,

Even if some of the students can’t speak in the traditional sense.

"I use visual cues for our students how to respond to a question," she said. "They feel empowered like their voices matter and that is really cool to see,"

Kari Thomas says that feeling translates to something tangible, offering skills that make these students attractive to employers.

"Now they are going out into the workforce and they have some extra skills that they learn here to communicate with peers, coworkers, their future co-workers," Thomas said.

It’s a real need, according to the National Autistic Society which says roughly 25 percent of adults with autism maintain a full-time job for 10 years or more, with a lack of socialization listed as a barrier to long-term employment.

"That’s the ultimate goal is to meet people, learn new skills and have fun and potentially get a job once they graduate here," she said.

At the very least, the students here are being heard.

"It’s now worldwide anybody in the whole world, that’s how I teach it, like anybody can hear us now," she said.

And that alone makes a huge difference in the lives of so many.

"When we hit play you can see the joy on everybody’s face," Thomas said. "Everyone was so excited like, 'Oh my goodness, I'm on the radio, I can’t believe it.'" 

The Mixing it up at Mixter podcast is recorded two times a week. The students craft the questions, help in the recording and editing process making it an integral part of the curriculum.  

You can find the podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts and other places online as well.

The Source: Information for this report came from interviews with students and teachers at the Mixter Institute in Lincoln Park. 


 

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