Hurst version of Amazing Race challenges students on spectrum

Pre-college students on the autism spectrum who are enrolled in Mercyhurst University’s CREATE* summer program will step outside their comfort zones as they navigate downtown Erie through a series of challenges reminiscent of the CBS reality series, The Amazing Race.

During July, Mercyhurst is home to 21 young people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who are testing the waters of college life. Students live in a Mercyhurst residence hall, eat in the college dining hall, enroll in a three-credit college course, and interact with fellow students in a variety of social activities and settings.

They also participate in an exercise, coined the Erie Amazing Race, that challenges them to develop their social and communication skills, practice teamwork, interpret clues, and have fun. The exercise takes place in downtown Erie on Saturday, July 16, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and concludes at the Presque Isle Lighthouse.

“One of the issues with high-functioning ASD students is that although they can be extremely smart, they are often unfamiliar with certain social skills; this activity challenges them to work through them,” said Amanda Mulder, student support coordinator for the Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst (AIM). Those skills might be initiating interactions, responding to the initiations of others, maintaining eye contact, or reading the non-verbal cues of others.

As the students complete different tasks, like joining a conversation or asking for directions, they will receive clues to move on to the next assignment.  At one point, for example, they will encounter a couple of would-be tourists speaking a foreign language and will have to use their own body language to request looking at their map. Success will lead them to the next activity.

“As much as this is about helping them move beyond their comfort zones, it’s also about seeing the beauty of Erie,” Mulder said. “They’ll be visiting UPMC Park, the Brig Niagara, Dobbins Landing, and the Erie Art Museum. They’ll board a bus for Presque Isle, where they’ll climb to the top of the lighthouse.”

The Erie Amazing Race exercise has been a favorite of CREATE students over the years, said Mulder, who is facilitating the “Race” with Kiriam Kraut, a fellow student support coordinator for AIM.

When the CREATE summer program concludes on July 30, participants will have a good sense of the demands of college life and have had the pleasure of enjoying a beautiful Erie summer, Mulder said.

*CREATE stands for College Readiness Experience for Autism Training Excellence.

PHOTO: CREATE students go through paces of Erie Amazing Race in downtown Erie. (2019)