An Unexpected Virtual Friendship
For so many of us, this year has changed what daily life looks like. In many ways, Pause caregivers have trained for this - navigating crisis’, dealing with isolation and making hard decisions in the midst of scary medical decisions. With kids shifting to remote/virtual learning without aides or intervention specialists, missing canceled therapy appointments and losing the safety and predictability of schedules, many faced regressions of goals they worked so hard to achieve.
Jason, our amazing 15 year old Pause kiddo, was feeling the challenges Covid brought. Online learning was difficult and his brain understood things in very structured ways. Home was for homework which meant all day was “homework” now - and he wasn’t a fan! We stand with you Jason! Although he tried, sitting in front of the screen for learning made Jason feel overwhelmed and overstimulated. To help his body regulate, he would leave his online classes. Without hands on learning experiences and a safe other to connect with, school was tough.
Jason’s parents said yes to a Pause Family Conversation where they shared their story with our Pause team and talked about what support looked like for their family. Jason’s mom mentioned his love for baseball and how they had planned to take a trip visiting several baseball stadiums, but #Rona.
Enter stage left our amazing CAN DO volunteer tribe! Because of the CAN DO Directory, Pause was able to pair Jason with a rockstar Pause volunteer, Mitchell to be his buddy for a Pause Virtual Hangout. We know, we know. More screen time seems counterproductive, right? Mom was hesitant too - for good reason! We designed Virtual Hangouts differently, allowing the volunteer and child to choose an activity they want to do together over Zoom to have shared experiences. It changes everything and provides hands on experiences that make it less awkward - and dare we say FUN!
Pause shipped Jason and Mitchell baseball cards to chat about during their Virtual Hangout. Mom wasn’t sure if Jason would be interested and feared he would immediately leave the Zoom call, so Mitchell hand wrote him a letter explaining what was going to happen. Mitchell also has a love for baseball (who knew?!) and was armed with memorabilia, stats and stories for his baseball loving kiddo.
Jason spent 43 minutes on the Zoom call that day. 43 minutes! But, the best part? Jason and Mitchell have met nearly every other week since then for a standing Zoom call. Jason’s mom has seen real changes, “Mitchell is fabulous. It makes Jason’s day when he talks to him.” Baseball started this friendship, but the friendship changed everything.
THIS is CAN DO. This is community. This is YOUR support. (Names have been changed for privacy.)
