Special Needs Day at Audubon Zoo will be a great day for everyone ...

(Gallery by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

?When I was able to dry my own tears, I became the person with the Kleenex." -- Eileen Johnson, mother of autistic child

When Eileen Johnson talks about the upcoming Special Needs Day at Audubon Zoo, she can?t stop smiling. She?s been wanting to host the day since she started working as the zoo?s community services director in 2008.

?We?ll have activities at the Capital One Stage: live animals, music, kid DJs -- just a whole lot of fun,? she says.

The special events will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and there will be an area where community partners -- including the United Way, the Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding Center and Families Helping Families -- will have displays and explain the kinds of services they offer for people with special needs.

?Our goal is to make this an annual event, and my dream would be to have the whole field filled with community partners,? Johnson says.

Johnson spends most of her time creating programs for underserved minorities: Asians, African-Americans, Hispanics, the elderly and special-needs families. Of all the jobs she?s held through the years, she loves this one the best. ?Community outreach has a whole different heart,? she says.

SPECIAL NEEDS DAY
AT AUDUBON ZOO

What: The first ever Special Needs Day for special-needs families, featuring face-painting, music, drumming, live entertainment, animals to pet and hold, and a social service fair with community partners who work with special-needs people.

When: Saturday, Dec. 8. Although the zoo is open to everyone from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Special Needs Day activities will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Audubon Zoo

Tickets: Special tickets have been purchased by organizations that serve special-needs clients. If you have a special-needs family member and have not received a ticket, contact air@auduboninstitute.org before Saturday. Put ?Special Needs Day? in the subject line.

Special Needs Day means so much to her because of her own ?special needs joy,? her son Mark, 15, who is autistic.

When I ask her if having a child with autism is difficult, she shakes her head. ?I like to take the word ?difficult? out of the equation,? she says. ?I learned that early on.?

When she and her husband, Mark Sr., first heard the word ?autism,? Mark was 2. ?Once I was able to quell all of my emotion, fear and disappointment, I could see what I needed to do," she said. "I had to be the kind of person who would nurture him.?

She learned that the normal milestones of childhood had to wait. The first two things Mark needed to learn to get along in the world were how to communicate and how to behave. He needed to learn not to stand too close to people, not to be loud, not to throw tantrums -- the same kinds of things all children need to learn.

?When we have special needs children, it?s still a basic approach,? she says.

But she knows she has to make certain accommodations. Mark wants the same lunch every day: sliced turkey, honey-wheat bread with mayonnaise, one Swedish Fish, one Fruit Roll-Up, one bag of chips, seven butter cookies and two small bottles of Crystal Light.

?He just started making his own sandwich last week,? Johnson says. ?He continues to progress.?

Mark started school at Chinchuba Institute and attended St. Michael Special School for several years. ?We?re Baptist but he does the rosary,? Johnson says, laughing.

Now, he?s a ninth-grader at John Ehret High School near Marrero. ?I had to ask myself, ?How do I transition him into high school??? Johnson says. ?It?s a journey of sorts. It goes on and on.?

Johnson describes being the parent of a special needs child as being ?blessed with a square when the world demands a circle.?

?Mark will never be a circle, but I still have to expect him to be successful,? she says.

For him to be successful takes discipline and therapy and the right school. His schoolwork at Ehret includes going out in the community, folding pizza boxes and cleaning up a pizza restaurant. ?He loves to clean up,? she says. ?He?s learning skills he?ll be able to use.?

Six years ago, Johnson and her husband started a support group for families with special needs children. It meets at their home in Marrero, and it?s for anyone who has a family member with special needs. They call it Confront and Conquer, and their motto is ?Moving from acceptance to expectation.?

It?s been one of the most fulfilling things Johnson has ever taken on. ?When I was able to dry my own tears, I became the person with the Kleenex,? she says. ?To see a mom who used to be depressed go back to work, that means everything.?

She has designed the Special Needs Day at the zoo to meet the short attention spans and sensory needs of the people it?s for. ?Being a parent who understands these things helped me figure out what to offer,? she says. ?It will be movement and sound and furry things they can touch.?

And then there?s the whole zoo beyond the special activities they will love, too: the train ride, the Carousel, the elephant fountain, the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit.

?It will be a great day for everyone, even our staff,? she says. ?It will help sensitize people.?

Johnson is grateful that God chose her to be the mom of a special needs child. ?It?s a divine assignment,? she says. ?These children challenge us, they inspire us, and they definitely teach us what?s important.?

For information about the Johnsons? support group Confront and Conquer, email confront-conquer@cox.net or call 504.347-5601.

Source: http://www.nola.com/family/index.ssf/2012/12/special_needs_day_at_audubon_z.html

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