What I Have Learned Volunteering At Ascent Autism

My time volunteering at Ascent Autism has been a huge learning experience. It's a nice break during a busy week to just take a deep breath and chat with some peers who teach me so much about themselves and their lives. Being able to talk about something you like with others of the same interests and bounce ideas and theories off each other is a great tool that volunteering with Ascent Autism has given me. 

It is super amazing to be able to talk with other teenagers all over the United States. As I have come to know the people in my peer group more, it's just like an hour long facetime. I really enjoy spending time with other teenagers who live lives different from my own. For two hours each week, I get the privilege of talking to a group of neuro-diverse and neuro-typical teenagers about what they have been up to. I use that time to make sure that they feel appreciated for the amazing work they do. 

Whether we talk about art, history, or Super Mario, I always am thinking about my own sister Mae who was diagnosed with non-verbal Autism at two years old. She is a huge part of why I love volunteering for Ascent. It allows me to learn so much more about autism as well as make new friends. 

The peer groups can be a little scary at first, but the moderators are very skilled at what they do and after a couple of weeks, we were all so comfortable we just kept our mics unmuted and talked with each other for an hour straight. I have bounced around to a couple peer groups since I first started in late 2020 and I have always felt very included in each group I joined. Even if a group had been together for a while, I felt very happy to be welcomed into a new group. 

With in-person school starting again where I live in the Bay Area, it can be very overwhelming to be thrust right back into a world of new “normal”. I have been with the same Saturday peer group since January and having a group that is going through similar experiences makes the ups and downs of daily life much easier when I know I can rely on the constant of my Saturday group to hash out what has happened during my week. 

My own conversational skills as well as my social skills have definitely increased. Through my groups I have learned a ton about topics like history, Disney, and computer science. Having spent time with neuro-diverse teenagers with such passions for certain subjects has definitely given me a motivation to explore my own passions as well as learn more about what they are interested in. I had always wanted to work with neuro diverse teenagers, as a way to grow my understanding of autism to help support my sister. 

Having the meetings on zoom is a huge plus because it means that it easily fits into my schedule and I can still join my group if I am anywhere in the world. Ascent gives me the ability to learn as well as have fun. I find that the free flow form of the group allows everybody time to show a game, video, or song that they are interested in. It also allows for anyone to bring up a new topic or share a new interest. I always love when someone shows off something that they made themselves. It's so cool to be a part of the projects that the peers in my group work on. I have greatly enjoyed my time volunteering for Ascent and I am very eager to continue to make new friends as well as learn more about autism to increase my own understanding.

May 28, 2021

Ben Sanford

Ben Sanford is a junior in high school living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been volunteering at Ascent since January of 2021. His passion for working with Ascent's peer groups comes from his experience as a sibling to his younger sister who has an ASD diagnosis.