He’s been called real estate’s super salesman, but now Mario Carey has the toughest sale of his life ahead of him — to make The Bahamas a better place for those with autism.
“It’s been estimated that between 7,500 and 10,000 children in The Bahamas suffer from autism,” said Carey. “If that number is even close to correct, there is no other condition in this country that affects as many children. Every child with autism requires special understanding and special needs education in order to grow up to lead rich, productive lives, reaching their best individual potential.”
Getting an accurate picture of autism’s extent — now estimated at one in every 150 births — is the first in a long list of goals for Carey, recently elected president of R.E.A.C.H., an organisation whose members are dedicated to lending educational resources and support to children with autism, their teachers, caregivers and families.
Carey’s family is among those who benefitted after their son, Cole, now 13, was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, one of many degrees along a broad autism spectrum ranging from emotionally estranged from society to those who are high-functioning, but may struggle with sensory input processing to light, sound, touch, texture and taste. “I don’t know what we would have done without R.E.A.C.H. and the pioneers long before I became involved, people like DeCosta Bethel (immediate past president) who founded R.E.A.C.H. and dedicated 12 years of his life to the cause, paving the way for greater understanding of how having a child with autism can change your life,” says Carey. “DeCosta and Fruzan Langdon, who work with these children every day of the week, and others who have given selflessly deserve so much credit.”
On this day when we catch up with Carey, it is morning at Garvin Tynes Primary off Carmichael Road, one of a handful of government schools equipped with special needs teachers and specially equipped classrooms.
At a classroom table, Carey is seated among educators hunkered down in tiny chairs. This is one of those special days when Michael McGinty is in Nassau. McGinty, principal at Bright Horizons School in Pompano Beach, Florida, is an internationally respected specialist. Tomorrow he will be recognised as the recipient of the Exceptional Parent magazine’s Distinguished Service Award for 2010 at a large function in Florida.
McGinty travels to Nassau, thanks to R.E.A.C.H., which covers expenses and to the Ministry of Education, which clears the way for his unpaid visits to work with teachers. “He’s been doing this for years out of the goodness of his heart,” says Carey. “There are so many quiet heroes in this.”
Most of McGinty’s work is with educators like those gathered around this pint-size table: Principal Naressa Hart, Senior Mistress Carolyn Wright-Mitchell, teachers Pauline Zonicle and Michelle Tyndal.
“Children with autism have various levels of deficits in the areas of communication and social behaviour,” explains McGinty. “For many of the students, the slightest change in the daily schedule or difficulty with sensory processing could decrease the level of learning of that particular child.” McGinty helped set up astructured learning environment with individual schedules, physically engineered classroom, areas for individualized instruction and work systems to foster independence while improving the quality of instruction.
In another area of the school there is a sophisticated computer lab — children with autism are often intellectually extremely advanced — and in yet another, a life skills department.
Students learn how to make a bed, cook, wash laundry and other basic skills enabling them to be more self-sufficient adults.
Carey’s wish list that ranges from fund-raising to bringing more families together, from creating a life insurance trust to increasing sensitivity also includes more direct funding from the Ministry of Education but for now he is grateful that the Ministry allows special needs training during Saturday workshops under McGinty to count towards required ongoing teacher certification.
“Without that training, a teacher could easily misconstrue a child with autistic behaviour as rude or unattentive when in reality the child could just be suffering because there is too much noise or light,” he says.
His most immediate goal — pedal power for a 100-mile bike ride scheduled for this coming weekend to raise awareness and funds.
The Ride for Autism will be held in Long Island. “It’s a small field of riders so far, about 10 of us,” says Carey, who is president of Mario Carey Real Estate, “but we have a lot of R.E.A.C.H. supporters and we are hoping to get even more. It’s all about building sensitivity and supporting the cause.” For more information about the Ride for Autism, call 677-8255 or 328-4123 or go to www.reachautismbahamas.com.
Source: Diane Phillips and Associates
