Beyond the Spectrum: Autistic Teens on School, Gaming, and Life

In this episode, we sit down with autistic teens from Red Oaks Coping in Lafayette, LA, for an engaging and eye-opening conversation. Hear them share what they love about attending Red Oaks School, their experiences with fitting in, their favorite video games, and their unique perspectives on life as autistic individuals. Tune in for an authentic and uplifting discussion that celebrates individuality and community. 

Transcript

Thank you for joining us for this episode of This Ability podcast. I'm your host, Mary Baudoin, and joining us today are several teens from the Red Oaks Coping Program. Let's go one by one and introduce yourselves, okay? 

Landon Hanks (00:12): I'm Landon Hanks. 

Lucius Worthy (00:14): Hi, I am Lucius Worthy. 

Mary Baudoin (00:15): Hi, Lucius. 

Seth Wolf (00:16): I'm Seth Wolf. 

Mary Baudoin (00:17): Hi, Seth. 

Daniel Christman (00:17): I'm Daniel Christman. 

Ava Vara (00:19): I'm Ava Vara. 

Mary Baudoin (00:19):
 Thank y'all so much for being here and also Stephanie is here as well, so I want to get to know you guys a little bit more. Where are you from? 

Landon Hanks (00:30):
 I'm born and raised down here in South Louisiana. 

Lucius Worthy (00:30): I am from Karen Crow. 

Seth Wolf (00:31): Lafayette, Louisiana. 

Daniel Christman (00:32):
 I'm from Lake Charles. I moved down to Lafayette because of Hurricane Laura. 

Ava Vara (00:36):
 I was born in Houston, but I live in Maurice now. 

Okay, very good. So I'd like to ask each of you, what is the thing that you like the most about Red Oaks? 

Ava Vara (00:47):
 I like the many different people that I can meet there. 

Lucius Worthy (00:50):
 I like the easy work load and that everybody is super chill and non-judgmental. 

Landon Hanks (00:55): 

I will add on to what Lucius, my friend here, said about non-judgmental. At Red Oaks, I'm sure many people in the disability community can agree with me, that we are different. The world is not so, I guess you say, friendly with disabilities so to speak, and Red Oaks is one of those places that is a place for disability people just because we are different being autistic for knowing yet I was in eighth grade, I'm currently in a senior, so I've been knowing it for four years, since I was 13 years of age, and I've been with it all my life, but having known and how much it affects me now looking back at it, it's just like wow. 

(01:27): 

Obviously this is a big thing. I mean most kids in the autistic world who are in public school have troubles, not just with the school in general, just life as a whole. I mean Red Oaks, as he said, is as non- judgmental you could find. As I like to say, your tribe. Simply due to the fact that as in the world some people just don't get along because you could be different. I'm different obviously. On the surface you wouldn't see such difference. There are different rentals that people have, I guess you say, on the inside, not on the outside, but you have it on the inside so to speak. 

Mary Baudoin (01:54):
 Well let's get some feedback from the other guys. Do you guys agree with what he just said? 

Lucius Worthy (01:57): Overall, yes. 

Mary Baudoin (01:58): Okay. 

Lucius Worthy (01:58): 

You see being different for me, well you see, I'm not too different from other people but still am, and I guess some people just sort of don't like that and so to those people I say that that's fine. I don't need your approval, okay? The only approval I need is my own. 

Mary Baudoin (02:13): Seth? 

Seth Wolf (02:14):
 I love all the people over there. They're all so kind, so sweet, and I think she's running a really good business, and I just love it over there. It's really fun to go over there, and it's like a little family community 

So you feel like you fit in? 

Seth Wolf (02:24): Fit right in. 

Daniel Christman (02:25):
 I feel like I haven't met anyone that I didn't like Red Oaks. I had trouble getting close to people my entire life. I feel like I've had less trouble at Red Oaks. 

Mary Baudoin (02:34):
 All right. Let's move on to the next question. What do you like to do in your space-time, or what is your 

favorite animal or video game? 

Lucius Worthy (02:42):
 My favorite video game right now, it's got to be Arsenal. 

Landon Hanks (02:44): 

Well, one thing I am doing, I am very much a sports fan. I've taken interest in sports, so I've done many officiating or umpiring from sports from football. I've done a couple of leagues here, one being the most transparent in Youngsville for the sports complex. I've also umpired little in Broadmoor, both very welcoming communities, and that's one thing I like about it because granted I am different, like I mentioned earlier, you may not see on the outside but if everyone in communities of that. 

(03:10): 

I like it because everybody, granted sports is all fun, and people want to win some and lose some, the community still as itself is not, I guess you would say cruel would be the best word for putting aside people doing because people are human. 

(03:20): 

I do like drumming because I feel like music is one of the things that I can, I guess I say, do that can kind of help me cope with said things because obviously some people may not have the best coping mechanisms, or some of them don't even have the right tools in the toolbox to use because I mean some people are just not fortunate to have a place like Red Oaks that helps you gain opportunities granted some of them say they don't, but some of them don't have, some of them don't understand things on a level that Steph as a whole has able to understand. 

(03:47): 

I mean with her starting up the business, her motivation to how she treats her business, it's something that some people of the government think will never be able to understand. She takes time and understands. She doesn't think autism as how it's a disability. She understands how autism is not just a disability as it's classified it. She thinks that's just a difference, which in reality it is just a difference. It's not that really a disability as they say. That's how it's classified in the dictionary. 

(04:09): 

If you look it up, I mean obviously that's how I was going to classify it is, but I really think it's a difference, which I'm sure everybody can agree with me with. Yes, it can be a disability in some places with two or when you get to the lower spectrum. Yeah, I still don't think it's a disability. It's differentials in all spaces, all levels, but still the part of it is you're just different from other people and just because you are different does not mean you can't do anything else people want you to do. One thing that I'm going to put to all is that once you put your mind in something, by golly, you can do it. 

Ava Vara (04:39): 

My favorite animal is a cat. I think it feels really rewarding for them to get closer to you, and once they do get close to you, they're very cuddly and sweet, and I like the little noises that they make. I think they're very cute. I do a lot. I like art, I do karate lessons. 

Seth Wolf (04:54):
 Red Oaks includes everything about what you are if you're funny, different if you laugh weird, if you're  short, whatever. Whatever you want to put it at, put in the blank. 

Mary Baudoin (05:02):
What's it like to be a little different? And I would like to start on this end of the table. 

Ava Vara (05:08): 

Well, sometimes it's not all that strange, but you notice the little things like how people look at you differently or how sometimes you don't understand stuff that other people do, and most of the time you can live your life normally, but there's some certain times where things get overwhelming or you feel that people are being judgy. I was diagnosed at a pretty early age, so I kind of knew what was going on with me for a long time. 

Mary Baudoin (05:33):
 And the question is what's it like to be a little different, if you feel different? 

Daniel Christman (05:38):
 I haven't really been judged or bullied really. I was diagnosed in school because for various reasons, but I never really had that much trouble or anything. 

Seth Wolf (05:49):
 Just like don't be ashamed of who you are. 

Lucius Worthy (05:52):
 What is it like to be different? Just know that if you're around judgmental people, and they have that knowledge that you are going to be bursting a couple of blood vessels. 

Mary Baudoin (06:01):
 Are you saying that gives you the right to be upset? 

Lucius Worthy (06:03):
 Yeah, I mean if somebody bullies you, and it's literally just for being different, then I should be able to do that too and then if you try to complain you look like a hypocrite. 

Ava Vara (06:13):
 Yeah, I think it's justified to be upset, but the things you do in response may not be as justified I guess. 

Landon Hanks (06:22): 

One thing I do want to mention about that, it's sometimes kind of hard people can hurt you. Because even I'm hurt about being different. Sometimes I think I'm just not a, I don't understand what I was made for or why I'm even in the world to begin with because I mean just because different, I feel like I should not be part of the society, and that's just hard because as the old saying goes, life's not going to be a straight line so to speak. 

Ava Vara (06:43):
 You don't need a purpose to be allowed to live. 

Landon Hanks (06:45): 

Well, let me rephrase it as to that point. I feel like why me? There's also another question can be why not me? Because I feel like with me being an advocate here within the disability community means that I can help other people who have felt my, I guess you say, pain so to speak. 

Stephanie (06:59): 

I have something to add about you specifically, Landon, because you sat there, and you said that you don't feel like you have a purpose, and sometimes you wonder why you're here, and I have been working with you for what? 

Landon Hanks (07:12):
 Four years? Something like that. 

Stephanie (07:13): 

Something like that, okay? There are plenty of purposes for you in this world. I can talk about the fact that we did food drive with Catholic charities, and Landon took it upon himself to start his own, and he brought in more than 30% of the amount of food we had. Landon is the first one to take up for friends, first one to help a friend that's having a hard time and encourage a friend. You have a purpose. 

Mary Baudoin (07:38):
 See? I love that. I love a friend that's encouraging too because we all have bad days, right? Sometimes we just need some words from an encouraging friend. Seth, you had something you'd like to add? 

Seth Wolf (07:48): 

I'd like to add onto to Ms. Stephanie. I truly believe that, like Ms. Stephanie said, everybody has a purpose. God didn't just put you here for no reason. I think everybody has a purpose. You just got to find that purpose. 

Landon Hanks (07:58): 

I do agree with you, but I'm going to add on to what Ms. Stephanie said. I guess if there's no proof, I don't know what is. Our group does not allow bullying in any form of it. Let me just put it to you this way. Lucius, our friend, can be a little, how should I say, point being is he had trouble controlling his emotions. That's what I'm going to leave it at. 

Mary Baudoin (08:14): 

And it looks like we have somebody that just joined us in the studio. Steph, do you want to introduce this 

person or have this person introduce himself? 

Stephanie (08:21): Sure. 

JT Hanley (08:21):
 My name's JT Hanley. I was born in Las Vegas, but I'm living in New Iberia, Louisiana. 

Mary Baudoin (08:27):
 Let's move on to our next question which is how do you feel about returning to school? Which I'm presuming starts next week. 

Ava Vara (08:36):
 I don't want to go back to school. 

Landon Hanks (08:36):
 Ava, if you don't mind me asking- 

Ava Vara (08:36): It's horrible. 

Landon Hanks (08:37): 

What makes it so horrible? I do want to ask that because yes, being a former person in public school or not feeling it's the right environment for me, what do you hate about it? Most teens your age do not like school because I mean they'd rather be at home, but what do you not? 

Ava Vara (08:50):
 The people. I'm going to a new school that is not at all connected to my middle school. 

Mary Baudoin (08:54): Good. 

Daniel Christman (08:55):
 For me, I am infinitely less nervous than I was last year. I know what I'm getting into. Honestly, it's not that bad. 

Mary Baudoin (09:02):
 Not that bad. What's your favorite subject? 

Daniel Christman (09:04):
 I'm going to have to go math because last year math teacher. 

Mary Baudoin (09:07):
 You're a math person. Man, I am anti-math all the way. 

Daniel Christman (09:12):
 The thing is if a bad subject could be great with a good teacher and so last teacher was pretty, a terrible subject could be great with a good teacher. 

Landon Hanks (09:21): 

I do agree with Daniel. With the right guidance, something that you struggle in could be, just because you struggle with it, I'm going to use, for example, I'm terrible with English, but I feel like with the right guidance and with the right tools that I have, ultimately English could not be so bad for me with the right guidance whatsoever, so I do personally agree with that. 

Ava Vara (09:36):
 That must have been a luxury for you guys. 

Lucius Worthy (09:37): 

I think I might be the first person to ever say this, but low-key, I am hyped to go back to school because school is all right for me because I like Red Oaks coping because it is superior to all public schools. We only go for three days a week. The workload is non-stressful. 

Daniel Christman (09:55): 

Honestly, I don't think many people actually hate school, at least at public school from what I've seen. I don't think as many people hate school as much as they say they do because it's more for the friends really. Honestly at this point, for a lot of people, school is mainly just a way to meet people. 

JT Hanley (10:19): 

At the moment, school really isn't on my mind because I have recently had some stuff going on, and my anxiety's been getting worse, so my normal everyday things I do, so just since I have a hard time always not being able to stop thinking I'm also going to be having worries at school about other things. 

Mary Baudoin (10:34): Sure. 

JT Hanley (10:35): 

I like Red Oaks coping, it's really good. It helped me. I didn't do seventh or eighth grade. I went right to high school, and I was able to complete with straight A's, but I still had a lot of worries about, I was doing stuff good, correct, and then also something happened with my mom recently, so just worrying about I already have a lot of medical problems. It is okay if I list them out. I wouldn't say I struggle, but I have depression, anxiety. I really would say I struggle with anxiety right now. I also have ADHD and autism, and I also have chronic back pain, so sitting in seats and like that or doing stuff can hurt, so the reason I say I've been struggling with anxiety is just mostly because I've been overthinking multiple times. 

And sometimes I could think with that type of diagnosis you have to just take it one day at a time and not, like they say take one step at a time, don't look at the whole staircase, just one step at a time so that the whole big picture doesn't overwhelm you. 

(11:28):
 So for those of you who would be graduating soon, what are your plans after graduation? Who in here would be graduating? 

Landon Hanks (11:36): 

That? Unfortunately it's kind of been on my mind as of recent. As JT said, my anxiety has been about it as well because I feel like I'm worrying too much. I sometimes feel like sometimes I look at the staircase as Ms. Stephanie put, or as you put it rather that was, my fault, as you put it. Sometimes I look at the whole staircase when you just need to look at one step or two steps because I feel sometimes when I look at the whole staircase, when I try to get up the staircase, I'm going to fall down to the beginning because of how much. I feel like when you walk, I feel like if you walk up a step you can only go down one, but if you try to go up the whole staircase, you go fall down two. 

(12:10): 

But as to my plans with college, I'm most likely going to go to SLCC Community College because it's a smaller community college. I'll be able to have more attention and help. Back to what I said with English not being my strong suit, I'll be able to get more guidance in that. 

Ava Vara (12:26):
 Pretty soon I'm going to become a high school freshman, so it's not going to be too far off before I start college. 

Mary Baudoin (12:33): Good. Good. 

Ava Vara (12:33): 

Before I actually answer this question though, I want to say I do think it is kind of strange that we have to decide what to do for the rest of our lives when we're only 18, and they say like, "Oh, if you don't like it, you can just change your job." Well, it's not that easy, especially with the hiring process. I do have a semblance of a plan. I haven't decided what college I'm going to yet, but I do have some career paths laid out for me. I've been thinking about careers with animals and careers in cooking. 

Lucius Worthy (13:00):
 I really want to make all my dreams happen before I graduate. 

Mary Baudoin (13:03): Yeah? 

Seth Wolf (13:05):
 I do want to work. I would like to work at the airport because my dad's a pilot, and I would like to work maybe detail planes and stuff over there. 

Daniel Christman (13:12):
 College is very overrated. It's just half of the degree telling you that the employer that you can do a series of tasks. Sometimes there's some degrees that are utterly useless. 

Seth Wolf (13:24): 

Daniel, if you don't mind, I want to comment on that. I understand, I was thinking about this literally a few days ago. I had a conversation with my mother about this. I understand why you're saying. So we're rated by the same point. I do understand what you mean about it, but degrees when it comes to medical side of things, medical professionals, stuff like that, they had not agreed in their thing, would they be able to do their job if they had not gone to college and had that degree? 

Daniel Christman (13:46):
 There are a lot of exceptions, but for half degrees what I meant was there are half the degrees you could probably do the job you want, you don't really need a degree. 

Mary Baudoin (13:57):
 And there are some jobs that more the trade is more important from being a mechanic, a welder. There's always going to be a need for that, CNAs. 

Daniel Christman (14:08):
 There are a bunch of jobs that are, college is 100% necessary, but there are some jobs that don't require college. 

Seth Wolf (14:15): 

I just want to say about college, it really depends on the job you want to do. For me, I personally don't need to go to college. What I want to do for a job is I don't need to go to college, but if you're like a doctor or something, you definitely, that's definitely good to have it. 

JT Hanley (14:25): 

I want to be a content creator when I get older because it's been something I've dreamed about, and I'm passionate about some things, but one thing I'm definitely passionate about, and I spend all of my free time on is games, watching YouTube, and paying people simply just because it's something that I've grown up watching, wanting to do. There is also some others I want to do, music. Then also I've been working on ideas for a game for about years. 

Ava Vara (14:50):
 I'm interested, what's the game about? 

JT Hanley (14:52): It is kind of dark. 

Give us an idea of general plot. 

JT Hanley (14:54): 

Think about a mountain and a person, and it's the end of Fort Long, but it's their own doom. They kind of, stuff goes wrong, not wrong, it's just anxiety kind of gets overwhelmed and just they can't take it anymore after you're doing it but is genuinely going to be a dark game. But other than that, I want say content creation, but I've still been, that's what I was talking about earlier, my anxiety's really been mostly on that. I just have a Discord server goal of just characters, weapons, the missions. 

Lucius Worthy (15:22): 

JT, I too had a video game idea. I will call it Nyctophobia FPS. So basically the game itself would be physically dark, minimal lighting. The only thing you have is the flashlight on your M4, and it's basically like a horror game, but it's also a FPS game. The main premise is basically the living human mercenaries versus demons and ghosts and spectry ghouls. 

Seth Wolf (15:46):
 I had a question for you, JT. Do you plan on being a YouTuber who talks about your games that you make and stuff? 

JT Hanley (15:51): 

No, it's going to be mostly gaming because I just want to have fun. That's a lot of people who will start off having fun but then they only do it for the fun of happy, but it's then just draining. I want to do what I want do. There will always be an audience for anything and everything. 

Ava Vara (16:06):
 I've thought about some ideas for a game, or I don't know enough, nearly enough about coding to actually go through with. It just stays in my head. 

JT Hanley (16:11): 

So when it comes to making a game, there's multiple people in the productions who make the ideas. There's people who code, model, rig stuff, so what I'm doing now is just thinking of ideas. If you were to just make a really big game or even just small game on your own, it's a lot of work. You have to learn a coding engine, a game engine on how it's going to run and everything. You're going to have to learn how to draw, rig, model. You're going to need a power grid. It's just a lot of work. So it's better to start off with ideas and then in the future hire people slowly and slowly. 

Stephanie (16:39):
 I just want to add, it's kind of starting your own business. 

Seth Wolf (16:43):
 If you make a game that becomes very popular, and a lot of people play it, you can make a big profit from it. There's this game on Roblox called Bloxberp, and it got big, and they sold it for like $20 million. 

Mary Baudoin (16:51): Wow. 

Something insane. Probably even more. 

Mary Baudoin (16:53):
 All right, so the last question is if you could tell other people what it's like to be used sometimes, what would you say to them? 

Ava Vara (17:01): 

I don't think I could put it to words. I would kind of just take their soul, put it into my body, and have them live out a day as me and see what it's like and then they'll finally understand what I go through each and every day. 

Mary Baudoin (17:11): I think that's great. 

Ava Vara (17:12):
 And it won't even explain the entire community, so they'll still have a lot to learn. We have a lot of possessions. 

Landon Hanks (17:16): 

In general, once you have a passion, and you go at it and continue with it, nothing's going to stop you. I can say the same thing because I also do content creator. I'm almost at 300, which is great. I never thought it'd be that, but point being is once you have a passion and run with, it's going to become a pleasure. 

JT Hanley (17:30):
 One thing that does stop me, it is one thing I've been bringing up a lot, it is my anxiety because that's one thing that will put it to a rope. 

Landon Hanks (17:36):
 Yeah, I'm going to disagree with you. 

Stephanie (17:37):
 Only if you convince yourself about it. 

JT Hanley (17:39): I meant for me. 

Landon Hanks (17:40): 

JT, nothing can stop you even something as simple as anxiety. Once you have the drive and have the power to do it, nothing's going to stop you, not even your anxiety. Granted it may stop you from moment, but it's not going to put a wreck in your plans. It's not going to wreck your train. Really it's weird. I think different than most of my kids my age. It's kind of hard to explain how it is. It's just it's awesome to be me. At the same time it's not because I feel weird and isolated but at the same time I know who I am and I am who I am and I like who I am. So it's essentially come down to on how I like it. But like Ava said, it's sometimes hard to put in words. You just have to, as you say, understand how it is to be in a person's point of view. 

What is it like to be me? Video games and beef flavored instant ramen paired with generic brand root beer. 

Landon Hanks (18:24): 

That proved my point specifically about you like who you are. Ms. Stephanie just proved my point essentially. Lucius answers question granted, like Ava said, she may not thought it was a series, but it's who Lucius is, and I like who it is too because he's so funny. 

Stephanie (18:36):
 It's entertaining, but he's being serious. And you know what? That's okay. 

Lucius Worthy (18:40):
 If I were to talk to someone for the first time, be prepared to laugh your lungs out. 

Seth Wolf (18:45):
 This is kind of sad, but the first thought that popped into my head was disappointing. 

Stephanie (18:50):
 Tell us why. Thank you for being honest. 

Mary Baudoin (18:52): Yeah. 

Seth Wolf (18:53):
 I feel like probably the reason for that is because I had trouble in the past doing what I want to do. I don't really care too much about disappointing other people again, more about itself. 

Stephanie (19:03): 

I can understand how you feel that way because what we know to be true about autism is that sometimes it can be a delay. I'm sure there have been times in your life where you wanted to do something that maybe you were not there yet, but I challenge you over the next few years to try to change the way you see yourself because I have never looked at you and saw you as a disappointment and I know that doesn't change how you feel on the inside. You are at a STEM school making straight A's, and you're walking with intention. 

Seth Wolf (19:32): Yes, very much. 

Stephanie (19:32):
 And you have come so far. 

So basically my math teacher, I was walking around randomly during lunch. Some random teacher that I did not know came up to me and said, "What are you doing?" And I said, "Nothing really. Just walking around." And he said, "We walk with intention here." 

Stephanie (19:48): Wow. 

Ava Vara (19:48):
 What does walking with intention look like? Do you just struct down the hallway? 

Stephanie (19:56):
 Okay. I'm going to show you. Daniel and I have talked about this. This is what it looks like. 

Ava Vara (19:56):
 They're not going to be able to see you. 

Lucius Worthy (19:57):
 Yeah. What are you supposed to just be North Korean soldier- 

Stephanie (19:58):
 She's skipping, people. She is skipping on the podcast. 

JT Hanley (20:02): 

To be me, I could only think of a couple words, but I feel I have a hard time explaining my own emotion and knowing how I feel sometimes. And then there's also just, I don't even know, how do I explain me or who I am sometimes. So the question, who do I say I am? How to explain it is a hard one for me. Struggle with my mental health sometimes, so that's kind of one way I can put it. 

Stephanie (20:26):
 JT brings a level of kindness to our group with JT. Because you're hilarious. 

Landon Hanks (20:32):
 This is a funny story about who you are as fun. This is when Ava first come to hang out. 

Stephanie (20:37):
 Oh my god. Are you ever going to let that go? Actually, I think it's- 

Anyway, I'm never let that down. But anyway, she was shy at first, which is how everybody, I mean Seth can testify to that. Probably everyone who has been to the group can testify. It's scary meeting new people, and she was so nervous and so scared. And then next thing you know she's over here. She's come out of her shell. We played Cops and Robbers, and that turned into an interesting Cops and Robbers game that's all I'm going to say that. At the same time, Ava, I'm never going to let that down, but to the point I'm trying to make is you came out of your shell and who you were, and it was fine who you were, and you seem to like it. So it was fun. Don't matter what other people say as long as you're approval with your thing and how you like it. It's very fun. 

Ava came to hang out. She was pretty shy, and we were like, "Let's play Cops and Robbers." And she was like, "I don't know what I want to be." Next thing you know she has a Nerf gun towards a baby, fake baby doll. And she said, "Don't get any closer. I'll shoot." It made me laugh so hard. 

Stephanie (21:30):
 And then we got to know who Ava was. 

Mary Baudoin (21:32):
 I want to thank all of you for being here. 

Stephanie (21:34): 

I truly am proud of each and every one of y'all for coming to do something brand new. This is pretty vulnerable. Okay? Talking about emotions and diagnoses and how it is to be different, and I'm just really proud of y'all for coming, taking on the challenge of something new. A few of y'all were really nervous to come do something new, and y'all got over it, and I'm proud of y'all because y'all just were on y'all's first podcast. 

JT Hanley (21:54):
 Life is like a road. If you go down the wrong path, you'll lose your sense of direction, so you should always make sure you're on the right path. 

Ava Vara (22:00):
 This was fun. I'm going to go now. Bye. 

Seth Wolf (22:03):
 I want to thank you for having me here, and it's very fun. 

Mary Baudoin (22:06): You're welcome. 

Lucius Worthy (22:07): Peace out. 

Landon Hanks (22:07):
 I'm very much happy that I was fortunate to podcast. Thank you for having me. 

Mary Baudoin (22:11):
 All right everybody that's going to wrap up this episode of This Ability podcast. Thank you for listening.