When you walk into the OASIS center on Kerr Avenue, you hear children playing games and laughing. Just a bunch of typical elementary school kids. They let each other take turns, jump up and down, shout with glee when they win and smile when they don’t.
Yes, typical kids. With one difference: They have autism. Watching these children interact and play dispels the image of the autistic child who rocks back and forth, won’t make eye contact, and is unable to communicate. The OASIS kids are bright, energetic – and social.
OASIS, which stands for Outstanding Autism Support and Intervention Services, was founded in January by Erika Merriman and Kim Reinhardt, teachers at Snipes Academy of Arts and Design in Wilmington. Merriman is now devoting herself full-time to OASIS, while Reinhardt will continue at Snipes until she retires at the end of December. The OASIS center opened Nov. 1 with six children in the after-school program.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20111213/ARTICLES/111219886/-1/news38?Title=Children-with-autism-thrive-in-program-founded-by-teachers&tc=ar
