On an early spring day at Mt. Seymour the sun was gleaming off the snow and the smiles were out.
Forty children were experiencing the feeling of freedom that comes from playing in the mountains, many of them on snowboards for the first time last Saturday.
They were afforded the opportunity through SUPA Society – a charitable organization that provides families living with autism unique event experiences to show them what’s possible.
Parents, who once couldn’t imagine them doing adventure sports, have watched their kids surf in Tofino and shred down Seymour.
SUPA Society is a grassroots initiative started by Surrey dad Dennis Nerpio, whose son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at age four.
Dennis, who is a surfer, took his son to Tofino one day about eight years ago, and discovered something magical: not only did his son enjoy the beach, but surfing with his dad took him out of the context of their day-to-day life.
“When he got diagnosed, you go through a bit of a mourning phase,” explains Nerpio, standing on Seymour’s bunny hill Saturday, surrounded by a crowd of happy kids.
“You feel like you’ve lost that son that you were going to have. You don’t know what you’re in for.”
Nerpio says there was some hesitation on his wife’s part, wondering if their son would be OK on the water. They gently got the wetsuit on, and set their son free to explore.
“Within 30 minutes of being in the ocean … he popped up and caught his first wave,” recalls Nerpio. “And what happened there – it changed us. When he jumped off, he gave us the two thumbs up and a smile on his face that we hadn’t seen. It was kind of surreal.”
The couple looked behind them and saw some women on the beach cheering on their son.
That’s when their perspective shifted. They wanted other families on a similar journey with ASD to experience that feeling of elation.
Nerpio needed a village to get SUPA Society off the ground. He reached out to a friend at the Canadian Surfing Association, and then others in the surfing industry got on board, including Rip Curl.
In 2012, SUPA offered the first surfing event in Tofino, which saw 12 kids with autism plus their siblings catch waves together.
“We want it to be a family experience and for the siblings to get the same kind of treatment that their brother or sister with ASD gets – because often they get left behind and they’re on the outside looking in,” explains Nerpio.
Over the years more than 100 kids have made the trip to Tofino in September.
Overall, SUPA has served more than 1,000 kids through other sports such as skateboarding, and snowboarding on Mt. Seymour.
The latter program came about after Nerpio did some support work for Canucks Autism Network and saw their ski and snowboard program in action.
Nerpio’s son, who goes by Killa B, is now 14 and competed last weekend at the Vans Hi-Standard Series on Mt. Seymour.
“To witness what he did yesterday … he took a jump that he normally wouldn’t take … one of the bigger ones – and he landed it. He took that fear out of it,” says Nerpio, of his son defying the stereotypes.
Nerpio breaks down when asked what the hardest part has been for his son.
“Judgement. He’s a good kid. He’s got a great heart. If you don’t give him that chance, he won’t open up to you.”
There are 45 volunteers on the mountain making the magic happen for the SUPA kids, including trained snowboarding instructors giving their time for the cause.
Each kid is paired up with an autism support worker, as well as a snowboard instructor.
Leah Burrell watches her eight-year-old daughter Sophia, dressed in snowboard gear, cruise down the slope.
“Way to go, Sophia,” Burrell calls out. “She’s pretty excited, I can see her face.”
At the end of the session, each kid individually receives a medal around their neck for being awesome at snowboarding.
All the parents and volunteers cheer for them.
Then comes the smile again.
