Community, Support, Access, Independence: Four Positive Themes That Defined Islands of Brilliance in 2020

The following post has been co-authored by Margaret and Mark Fairbanks.

Mornings in our home always start with coffee and conversation—which often revolves around how lucky we are to do what we do. The joy, the sense of community, the self-confidence and advocacy, and the sense of pride that has blossomed over the past eight years really is something we are incredibly honored to be part of. This year all of that was put to the test. Our priorities needed to quickly evolve—obviously with the primary goal of keeping everyone safe—but also in how to maintain a connection to the community that has been built. The ultimate challenge was trying to retain that feeling that anyone who walked through the doors of the IOB studio experienced. Our entire team was driven by the ever-present knowledge that what we did and continue to do makes such a difference in people's lives.

Looking back on 2020 in an attempt to write a reflection is a bit like gazing into a kaleidoscope and trying to figure out where to focus. We could list our accomplishments—the switch to distance learning, the new levels of access we created, the enrollment of students from around the country. But 2020 was full of unexpected and insightful learning experiences for us. Not surprisingly, it was our students who led the way.

Here are four takeaways that defined the year, and that will continue to help us evolve our programming to always first and foremost meet students where they are.

The Dawn of the IOB Student Community

The growth and development of the Islands of Brilliance Community has been a wonderful thing to behold these past few years. The energy and happiness that filled the studio when students, families, and volunteers arrived was always something to look forward to. Since our students predominantly worked one-to-one with their mentor for the majority of workshops, peer-to-peer interaction was limited to the 10-15 minutes of presentation time.

With the switch to online workshops, both the frequency of daily programming and the added variety of Sandbox programming gave rise to something beautiful, new, and needed. Increased accessibility and a more organic social structure created a new trusted space for neurodiverse students to engage with each other throughout an hour-long session. Students began making connections with their peers, which gave rise to friendships, fostered a network of support, and gave birth to a true student community. 

In our Digital Academy and Brilliant Breakfast Club, Discord (link) channels became the de facto digital watercooler for conversation, sharing, and activity. These conversation threads were not strictly limited to programming-related communication. Students used the opportunity to post interests, side projects, and birthday wishes.

Individuals living with autism co-creating the environment and community in which they can thrive. How utterly inspiring is that? Just imagine the community our students will further build when these online relationships can once again be merged during in-person workshops, future social outings, and field trips with friends. 

Students supporting each other

An unexpected but delightful outcome of this student-centered community is how supportive the students are of each other. We began to see this in our Digital Academy students and then saw it spill over into our Doodle Lounge and anywhere our students gather on Discord. Who would have thought that! 

There are so many examples it is hard to know which ones to share. Students seemed to intuitively understand what topics to share and what to avoid, including watching their language if a younger student was participating or being very careful when recommending movies or tv shows. Knowing that some of the work created around Halloween could look a little scary, one student made sure to also create something cute and cuddly to make another student happy. Students were overheard supporting each other and relating to each other's frustrations around technology and behavioral issues. The empathy displayed was beautiful. The compliments shared, such as “You are such a great artist” or “Wow, that is beautiful” happen daily. Students even ask their peers to draw something for them, saying “I am a big fan of your work”. Yes, these are students with autism. Supporting each other. It is a beautiful thing to witness.

We even see it in birthday wishes. In helping with Zoom links. And in posting their work. The support is so genuine, so kind and so simple. This is literally cut and pasted..."I know that you have a future ahead of you, so please keep going!!! You're already so brave!!!” And no, we aren’t making this up. This happens. These are the students who are typically not known for having social skills who are lifting each other up. Which in turn, lifts all of us up. 

Online creates more access

One thing we often hear from parents is that they are uncomfortable with the amount of “screen time” their son or daughter now has. I used to feel the same way. I limited screen time to less than two hours. The research indicated that was the right thing to do. However, what we have learned these past few months is that the online format has actually INCREASED the engagement of our students. And if you think about it, that actually makes sense.

In person workshops required students to not only get to our space, but to work in our environment, the one we created for them and thought was pretty amazing. Yes, they were really good at tolerating the lights, the sounds, the humm of people in and out of the door, walking around, peering over their shoulders to see their amazing work. They were motivated and engaged and that made us very proud.

However, being able to access learning from the comfort of your own home, whether that included a warm comfy blanket, the ability to listen to your choice of music, or simply being in an environment that was safe and familiar, allowed students to “come as they are” so to speak, even with stuffed animals in tow. Students who might not have been able to to get to our space two days in a row were logging on independently and asking to stay late. It helps to think of online as access to a tool, a conduit to creating, as opposed to simply consuming content. I often tell parents that one of our goals is to turn consumers into creators. That was easy to see in person, but now students were jumping in to work without a mentor at their side. Without someone to guide them step by step. They no longer felt they had to wait for support, they could try it on their own and ask for help if and when needed.

There is so much more opportunity for connection and independence. How fun it is to see the students posting the work they have done on their own then asking for feedback–"What do you think of this? Do you like how I added that?" And then being open to suggestions. There seems to be a safety net that wasn’t there in person. A sense of comfort that also seems to help with confidence. Imagine being able to create and explore this really cool software while wearing pajama pants and slippers! Yes, it may seem like students are in front of a screen all the time, but they are interacting with each other and building relationships, with their mentors yes, but also with their peers. Online increases access and access to community is what we all need right now.

Ownership = Independence

IOB’s move to online necessitated that students use their own equipment and software in order to participate in workshops. The change presented some initial challenges with technology setup which we mitigated through “tech check days” so that workshops could be dedicated to learning vs. troubleshooting. 

Once students had both hardware and software in their own hands, we began to observe new developments. First, it is human nature to step in and help students get started on a project. Often our mentors would do simple things like locate documents on a server, open software, and select an appropriate tool. We found ourselves doing the same when we worked with students too. This is essentially the equivalent of backing a car out of a garage and parking it on the street headed in the right direction for a new student driver. At some point, the student must take ownership of these seemingly mundane operational tasks if they truly want to “drive” a design project. In our new virtual environment, students must now locate files, open software, and select the appropriate tools independently via guided instruction which is actually a significant shift.

With powerful creative tools now untethered from our studio environment, IOB students had the opportunity to create on their own. And create they did. The volume of projects and sharing increased, with some students continuing to explore and refine their projects outside of scheduled workshop time. This type of ownership, independence, and self-directed learning is a fantastic outcome of “owning the process”.

2020 has been our most challenging year but it's also been our most impactful.  We do what we do because it has meaning and purpose. We have heard time and time again that what we do has changed lives, given someone hope, and provided a new path for the future. We are eager to move forward with joy, gratitude, and a commitment to our community in 2021 and beyond.

Banner Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash