Art Class Fills A Special Need

By Nancy K. Crevier

Ashley Puterbaugh races from T-shirt painting to drawing to playing with clay. She hides behind an easel and peeks out at the other children in the room. She jumps up and down with excitement and runs over to a massive chalkboard.

Ashley is at Ta-da! Art on South Main Street and just the fact that Ashley is there and having fun is enough to bring a big smile to her mother’s face.

When your child has special needs, it is not easy to find extracurricular activities for him or her, said Newtown resident Marisol Puterbaugh. Her daughter, Ashley, 6 years old, has Down syndrome.

She had been taking her daughter to programs in Monroe, but wanted more sense of community. “My daughter is growing up in Newtown. Why do I have to go to other towns for programs?” Ms Puterbaugh asked.

As part of a special needs support group in town, Ms Puterbaugh could see that there was a need for extracurricular activities geared toward special needs children. “There are a large number of autistic children in Newtown,” Ms Puterbaugh said. “We have at least 150 families here with special needs.”

Not all of the needs are obvious to the outside observer, and that is where problems come in when special needs children are enrolled in mainstream activities. “Our children don’t do well in the mainstream programs, initially,” explained Ms Puterbaugh.

Wendy and Kevin Suckow know this is true. They have three special needs children, Sarah, who is 9 years old, Benjamin, 7, and Samuel 4. Their needs range from gifted in certain areas, to autism, to fine motor skills issues. “There is sometimes a lack of understanding on the parts of parents and staff when our kids are enrolled in mainstream activities. It looks like our kids are just misbehaving or that we are not parenting them properly,” said Ms Suckow. “It is much deeper than that, though, and while tolerance has grown, it is still not enough,” she said.

Late this winter, Ms Puterbaugh decided to see if she could change the face of special needs activities in Newtown. In seeking to find programs that would welcome special needs children and their caregivers, she ran into challenges.

“I approached several children’s programs and was turned down or they did not respond,” said Ms Puterbaugh. “Some were concerned about staffing or insurance, and not all of them allow parents to stay during the class.”

She was finally successful when she approached one of Newtown’s newer children’s businesses, Ta-da! Art on South Main Street owned by Debbie Holmes.

“Debbie was one of the last I called. I didn’t want to call a new business and drop a bomb on her,” Ms Puterbaugh said, so she was thrilled when Ms Holmes eagerly offered to provide a monthly class just for special needs children. “This is my way of giving back to the community,” Ms Holmes told the parents who brought their children to the first class in May.

“We had a very large group the first class,” Ms Puterbaugh said. “We had 18 children from 11 families there.” Some of the children ]all into the autism spectrum, some are in wheelchairs, some have Down syndrome, but all of the children are eager to take part in activities, she said.

The art class offers the children two to three activities and the freedom to explore the sunny space. The children and parents move from activity to activity as they desire, sometimes taking a break to do nothing at all.

“It was a little overwhelming in the first class,” Ms Holmes said, as she moved about the smaller June session. “I think we will have smaller groups over the summer, but if they get big again, we may look at having two sessions.”

The parents of the special needs children are hopeful that a successful program at Ta-da! Art will encourage other businesses to open their arms to their special children.

“The Newtown Basketball League has offered to put together a basketball program for us in the fall,” Ms Suckow said. “That would really be nice.”

For now, she and the other families who have experienced classes at Ta-da! Art are thankful for the space and time Ms Holmes has donated to them. “It was nice to know someone welcomed our kids,” Ms Puterbaugh said.

“Our children need places to do fun things. Some special needs kids will do well at mainstream classes, but for those who don’t, there are no extracurricular activities for them in town,” Ms Puterbaugh emphasized. “We would love to see a special time for us at Treadwell Park pool to acclimate our kids so that they are ready to be in regular swim lesson classes, for instance. We want classes that will allow at least some of the parents to remain with their children to help. We know our kids can be a handful,” she said.

Parents of special needs children who are seeking extracurricular activities are welcome to call Ms Puterbaugh for more information at 364-1655.