Graham Academy celebrates Autism Awareness Month

KINGSTON — The Graham Academy helps students with autism or social and emotional behavioral challenges. Its respect in the community is evidenced by its recent citation as a Best of the Best winner in the Special Education Facility category.

“Our role is to work with students with behavioral and social and emotional challenges with the intent of getting them back to district so that they can go back with their peers in their settings,” said Carol McGrane, regional director of the Graham Academy.

The Graham Academy has three locations in Northeast Pennsylvania. The Kingston location is for students in kindergarten through eighth grade; the Luzerne location is for students in ninth grade through age 22; and the Mayfield location is for students from kindergarten until age 22.

In total, 250 students attend the Graham Academy, and they come from across the region. Students from 45 school districts — from Montrose to Jim Thorpe — travel from their home district to the unique educational environment of the Graham Academy.

As noted by McGrane, school districts will typically try to help students within the district before referring them for placement at the Graham Academy. She said that it is best for students to arrive between the ages of 5 and 7.

A unique approach to each student is critical to the Graham Academy’s success, and this extends to the months that make up the school year. Each month has a different theme, and April, even beyond the walls of the Graham Academy, is Autism Awareness Month.

A number of special promotions come along with April’s theme. One is a partnership with Wilkes-Barre City government, in which four lucky Graham Academy students are given honorary positions.

“Our students have the ability to do anything they want — that’s how we recognize our students,” McGrane said. “They’re not limited based on their ability. They’re actually promoted based on their gifts and their abilities. Our students are picked based on if it’s an interest of theirs, and we also look at our students’ progress.”

April also includes days when students and staff are encouraged to wear certain symbolic characters. On April 1, they were to wear blue, the color most often associated with autism awareness. Later, on April 14, they’ll be wearing red as an expression of love and acceptance.

On Wednesday, the theme was “Bubble Up to Celebrate.” Students were provided with bubble soap and each classroom was given independent playtime, during which bubbles filled the sky above.

Along with the special, monthly theme, the Graham Academy hosts community events each month. These can be science fairs, talent shows or art shows. In these cases, parents are just as much of a focus as students.

“We’re tied to making sure there’s transparency within our program and people can see what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and maybe take it back,” McGrane said. “We really pride ourselves on our communication with our parents and the services we provide to the parents, but we truly pride ourselves on the communication and the contacts we have as outside resources.”

By building a safe environment for students and collaborating with a number of agencies with similar goals, McGrane said the Graham Academy is breaking down the stigma of autism.

“Autism is not a bad word,” McGrane said. “It’s not something that you can’t live with. You can.”

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