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Eagle Project Supports Autism Awareness

Because of his father’s work as a behavioral analyst, Scout Hyrum J. has spent time with a number of children who have autism, and he understands that some of those children face unique challenges when attending school.

That got Hyrum, a Scout from the Nevada Area Council, thinking about how he might be able to help make a difference for those children, as well as some of his own classmates, in creating awareness around autism.

To get started on an Eagle Scout project that would help, Hyrum reached out to Northern Nevada Autism Network president Korri Ward to inquire about what he might be able to do.

Eagle Project Supports Autism Awareness
Scout Hyrum J. explains his project. (photo: Hasani Grayson, Elko Daily Free Press)

Ward offered advice as well as provided Hyrum with several copies of books about autism. Hyrum collected the books and reached out to local schools so that they could include those books in their library collections. This will help kids attending those schools to learn about what some of their classmates might be experiencing.

“Hyrum called me and asked me how he could help kids with autism and what he could do for an Eagle project,” Ward said. “We need books in our local libraries and our public school libraries so that kids that have questions can learn about autism.”

Ward has raised children that experience autism and was inspired to help support Hyrum’s project because she witnessed how challenging it was for her own children to be accepted in their classrooms.

“They had a hard time being accepted and people didn’t know what autism was,” she said. “They didn’t know what to expect so, with these books it will help students have a better understanding of what autism is. I did this project because I want things to be different than what my kids went through.”

Hyrum and a team of Scouts also put together several kits that are designed to help children between the ages of three and seven who have autism. The kits contain puzzles that assist with the learning development of the children who use them.

To learn more about Hyrum’s Eagle Scout project, be sure to read the full article in the Elko Daily Free Press.
To learn more about the positive impact that Scouting can have on young people like Hyrum, be sure to check out this article on the recent Tufts study, and watch this video:

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