How will Washington County schools, medical staff improve support for autistic students?

When Landon Smith was diagnosed with autism, his school system in Huntsville, Alabama, said he may never speak English as a primary language, recalls Landon's grandfather.

"It's like my daughter said, all of the sudden your world changes and you don't know what to do first," Benito Vattelana said.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Vattelana, 63, now lives in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, with his wife. He has worked as a financial advisor at Edward Jones for 17 years and is licensed as a Chartered Special Needs Consultant.

After Landon was diagnosed when he was 6 years old, Vattelana said his family began researching autism and discovered alternative diets and activities.

"By doing things that we did, it completely unlocked him to communicate and express his feelings and really make amazing progress," Vattelana said. "[Landon] is super high functioning and super verbal."

Landon, now 11 years old, is home-schooled by his family. Vattelana said Landon reads, plays the cello and is first chair violinist in the Huntsville Youth Orchestra. After seeing his grandson's progress, Vattelana pitched an idea to Washington County Public Schools in hopes of giving children the same resources that helped Landon blossom.

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Landon's Project

Vattelana's idea was to create a resource hub for autistic children and other "unique learners" who need extra support in their educational environments.

The program, soft launching this August, will be run out of the former Funkstown Elementary School and is sponsored by public and private partners, including Meritus Health. While it will have a permanent location, it won't initially function as a full-time alternative school.

Vattelana said that through his work with Edward Jones, he connected with organizations including the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment to discuss ideas and next steps for the program.

"A lot of students who may have an autism diagnosis don't necessarily have access to the appropriate doctors who can give them that diagnosis or to help support the family," said Jennifer Webster, the assistant superintendent with Washington County schools. "That's why we decided the program focuses on students with autism and any family who needs that seamless connection between school and the medical community."

Both Webster and Vattelana said their visions for the program are to create a hub with school staff and medical staff to aid and support students in need. The program will start as an outlet for students struggling in school to get reacclimated with their home schools, but Webster said she hopes it develops into a full-time school for students who need more medical or educational support.

Vattelana said he hopes students learn skills they can use in the classroom and their everyday life from the program.

"The whole goal is to help them become part of the complete fabric of the school system within their classrooms, and to work along their peers," Vattelana said. "They have to be taught sometimes how to adapt and adjust."

Webster said Dr. Anad Budi, the chief medical officer of Meritus, and Dr. Paula Gregory, the dean of the proposed Meritus Medical School of Osteopathic Medicine, have been involved in the planning process. While Webster said they haven't nailed down the specific roles Meritus will play, there is a commitment between the hospital and the program.

Carol Mowen, president of the Washington County Teacher's Association, hopes the program will provide both teachers and students with support.

“This program shows that our administration at central office is recognizing the need to provide essential therapeutic services for our learners,” Mowen said. “Hopefully this will alleviate some of the issues we are seeing in our elementary school related to physical interactions between teachers and their students.”

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Landon's Project inspiration

The program was inspired by Landon's Puzzle Pieces, a project started by Landon and his family when Landon was 8 years old, according to Vattelana.

“For his eighth birthday, [Landon’s grandfather] said ‘Landon, what would you like to do for your birthday?’ ” Vattelana recalled. “And [Landon] said, ‘I want to give kids my superpowers.’ ”

Landon’s parents didn’t tell him he had autism when he was diagnosed, but Landon knew that there was something special about the way he learned, said Vattelana. So, when he asked to give other kids superpowers, Vattelana had an idea.

“Sensory items really were a big part of helping [Landon],” Vattelana said. “All these things we’ve found are all part of the puzzle, so we basically started an Amazon Wishlist about four years ago.”

The Amazon Wishlist expanded into a sensory item drive called Landon’s Puzzle Pieces, starting in Alabama. The program then launched in both Washington County and, because of Vattelana's connections, within the Edward Jones network, inspiring Vattelana to pitch Landon’s Project.

Because of the impact Landon's Puzzle Pieces had throughout the country, the county asked Vattelana if it could name the program after Landon. Vattelana happily agreed.

"It's just making sure that we have a robust community program," Vattelana said. "All the working parts are together and we're really helping each other."

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But Landon, at least right know, doesn't realize what a profound impact his name will have on other children.

"As he gets older, I think he'll look back he'll be proud of us that we took something that really helped, and we turn it into something that is helping so many kids," Vattelana said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County Public Schools, Meritus launch autism support program