FINN Rennie's favourite part of being a member of a local youth group is the sense of belonging and acceptance it affords.
"It's a chance to hang out with friends that are willing to accept your quirks and eccentricities. Being a bit odd is understood there because everyone has had to go through some stuff. You can be yourself without fear of judgment," he says.
Rennie, 16, is a member of the Aspires Youth Lounge, a program of the North Shore-based Aspires Society, created seven years ago by parents of children with Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, with a goal of promoting social inclusion.
"It's a safe place to meet new people, make new friends and be yourself," says Rennie, who was diagnosed with Asperger's at age 12.
The weekly youth group, open to males and females ages 14 and up, meets Mondays at Harry Jerome community centre. Members meet with the support of a behavioural interventionist in a non-therapeutic environment and engage in a wide range of activities, including a host of field trips like improv nights, golfing, snowshoe excursions and rafting trips.
In addition to helping the members work on their interpersonal skills, an important focus of the Youth Lounge is to help them be more independent, provide them with a sense of autonomy and give them an opportunity to feel successful in a friendship setting where they can work together as a team, says North Vancouver resident Stella Crofts-Fagerlund who helped found the society and serves as its board chairwoman.
To that end, the Youth Lounge members work together to plan community events and fundraisers, like car washes and bottle drives, to give back to the wider community. Their next event, which is also intended to encourage more local youths with unique personalities to join the Youth Lounge, is a Laser Tag Party, Wednesday, May 1 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Laserdome, located at A110-2455 Dollarton Hwy., in North Vancouver. The society has held similar events for the last five years, previously a pool party, timed with B.C. Youth Week.
Rennie, who is leading the event's organizing committee, is grateful for the support Aspires has received from Ken Ahn at Laserdome and the Rotary Club of Lions Gate to make the event possible.
Crofts-Fagerlund's son, Aaron, 20, has been a member of the Youth Lounge since its launch. Now that he's older, Aaron has been empowered to serve as a mentor to the younger members.
When asked what kind of an impact it's had on her son's life, Crofts-Fagerlund says, "How can I count the ways? All the friendships for a start. I think they'll be lifelong friendships. Confidence, self-esteem and it's created a wealth of independence. . . . His compassion for others with social challenges is huge. . . . He's always looking out for the underdog. . . . It's helped him to learn tolerance and patience in realizing that everybody has a voice and it's important that everybody gets an opportunity to use their voice."
To register for Wednesday's Laser Tag Party, $5, for like-minded youths 13 and up, contact Sue Rennie at suerenniemail@gmail. com. For more information on the Aspires Society, and the Youth Lounge and to become a member, contact Crofts-Fagerlund at [email protected].
