Dinner at the Standard: Event brings people with autism together

Feb. 5—A monthly event designed to facilitate friendships for adults with autism will launch Monday night in Norman.

Norman Mix n' Mingle will be hosted from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Standard Restaurant, 315 E. Gray St., for adults with autism age 17 and up. The event is facilitated by Autism Oklahoma, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

Kendra Orcutt, an occupational therapist who serves people with autism, said it's an opportunity for a group of people who struggle with social skills to build friendships and network with each other for jobs and other opportunities.

"What we're trying to do is just to allow spontaneous friendships to occur," Orcutt said. "After 18, you're not really in high school anymore and a lot of services go away. They're just isolated. There's a huge need for socializing."

Orcutt said the event will include provisions to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable, including color coded name tags. Green tags means an attendee is willing to talk to anyone, yellow means they will speak to people they know and red means they want to observe without conversation. Blue tags indicate the person is an advocate or loved on of a person with autism.

The event is in addition to one started in the Edmond area at Chicken n' Pickle. Orcutt said 80 to 100 people come to the monthly gathering, many of whom drive up to two hours away to attend.

"We try to find a group for people to sit with," Orcutt said. "We have games on the table as sort of an icebreaker to have something to sit down to. Most of us are only there an hour and a half at a time."

Parents get a chance to sit together over a meal or a drink with other parents while they observe their child.

Servers are trained ahead of time to understand the crowd.

"We tell them, if they say the food can't touch it really means it can't touch — it really matters," Orcutt said. "If they said they don't want pickles on a sandwich, they really don't want pickles."

Caregivers and parents are relieved that the environment is an accepting one, Orcutt said.

"We have a couple who have outbursts, we have a couple who rock and everyone's fine with it," she said.

Orcutt mentioned a young woman who enjoys the Edmond event. Prior to joining, she told her parents that she was "profoundly lonely."

"To be so articulate, to say that this thing is missing ... she's very smart, but in the wrong setting with the wrong stimulus can become nonverbal," Orcutt said.

The young woman's attendance led to a part time job and now advocates for adaptive games for people with autism.

"Socialization is necessary for every human being," Orcutt said. "We all want that.

The event does not require a signup or membership to Autism Oklahoma.

Mindy Wood covers City and County government news and notable lawsuits for The Transcript. Reach her at mwood@normantranscript.com or 405-416-4420.

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