Greetings from the Boneyard!
Team 2682, Boneyard Robotics, would like to invite you to join the POP alliance. The POP (Piece of the Puzzle) alliance is a group of FIRST teams that acknowledge, welcome, and help students on the autism spectrum.
We noticed in our first year, that many members happened to be on the spectrum. In the five years since then, we watched in amazement at how much being a welcome part of our FRC team helped those students. Even more, those students helped the other members of the team as well.
Since we know that about 2% of the population is on the autism spectrum, we figured that other teams may have students on the spectrum, too. People on the spectrum tend to be strong in STEM fields, but often lack the social skills to be able to succeed beyond school. Being a welcome member of a FIRST team can help with that. For those who want to reach out and include this underserved population, and others who have students on the spectrum and want to share resources, we created the POP alliance.
Why a Piece of the Puzzle? Find out at www.thepopalliance.org. Find best practices for setting up a quiet room (developed with a Certified Autism Specialist), a handbook on recruiting and working with students on the spectrum, and hear from students and parents about how FIRST has helped students on the spectrum and their teams. We’ll add more resources through the season, so check back often.
Won’t you join our alliance?
Sincerely,
Boneyard Robotics Marketing Group