Despite his lifelong struggle with autism, Squamish resident Brandon Landry is not a shy 17-year-old and is quite optimistic about his future. His spirits are even higher of late since he found out he will receive a provincial award for his participation in the Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) work experience program.
"He has struggled very, very hard over the years to overcome and to be strong despite autism," said HSSS Life Skills teacher Diane Kokubun, who nominated Landry for the B.C. Council for Exceptional Children (BCCEC) award.
"He's worked so hard that I felt he deserved an award as a model for other kids that have this kind of disability."
BCCEC is a volunteer group of educators, parents and support workers who are interested in promoting good educational practices for students with disabilities. Their annual highlight is the Yes I Can! awards celebration to recognize the outstanding achievements of students with exceptionalities in B.C. This year Landry was selected as the award recipient in the area of employment.
"I was glad, I was very glad," said Landry about receiving the letter telling him he'd won.
When asked if he was nervous to attend the banquet, he replied with a massive smile: "No I don't feel nervous. I feel good."
Students from around the province are recognized in one of nine different categories: academics, arts, athletics, community service, employment, extracurricular activities, independent living skills, self-advocacy and technology.
Kokubun was thrilled and amazed that Landry was chosen.
"We're amazed because we think we're just a little town doing the best we can and working with these kids," she said. "When I nominated him I really didn't think he would win, but I knew if I nominated him he'd get a certificate, so that was enough for me.
"We're really proud of him. It's been a whole team of people throughout his school years that have worked together."
The key support system in Landry's life is his father, Gary Everett, who has taken care of him single-handedly since Landry was 3 1/2.
"I'm really proud of Brandon," Everett said. "He's been working really hard for work experience at school and deserves the recognition."
Landry started work at the Squamish Valley Gas bar as part of the Life Skills work experience program six months ago, and he said he loves working there. He particularly likes stocking the shelves and recognizes the importance of making sure everything is as clean as possible.
"I do like working at Squamish Nation's gas station. It's pretty good, I would say," he said.
Landry has actually been offered a part-time summer job at the gas station - his first paid job - and he's excited to take advantage of the opportunity.
He's "not too sure yet" what he wants to buy with the money he'll make, but "something cheaper from the flea market, like maybe the boom box surround sound sounds pretty cool."
He's also considering saving for a laptop to practice his graphic design skills.
"I was good at graphic arts and was thinking about me working on the graphic design for the Squamish Nation's gift cards," he said, adding that he has all sorts of ideas for Squamish Nation logos on everything from signs to cards to trucks.
Everett said his son's knack for graphic design is impressive and that Landry basically taught himself about design, specifically architectural ones.
"He'll look at a picture of the layout of a house online or in a book, copy the basic shape and then completely redesign it," said Everett.
Kokubun agrees and said people with autism have been known to have untapped talents, using Temple Grandin as an example.
"People with autism are being recognized to some extent as an untapped talent pool," she said.
"Temple Grandin is a person who became famous who is autistic because she had such brilliant ideas for how to treat animals more humanely in slaughterhouses and she developed systems for that.
"It's a really compelling story about how she overcame her autism because you can't cure it. We don't know how to cure it but we can find ways to manage it depending on the severity."
Kokubun compares autism to a "cloud that a person has to kind of fight through to get to the world, and underneath there's a person, and a person with abilities trying to get out."
Kokubun's Life Skills class has nine students with a range of disabilities from completely physically dependent to someone like Landry. She said the response from local business owners who agreed to host Life Skills work experience students has been amazing this year.
"This past year more employers agreed to take kids into their workplace than ever before," she said. "I think this is something we should be really proud of in our community, because not all communities are like that."
Cascade Laundry, Gelato Carina, Squamish Valley Gas Bar and McDonald's all agreed to take on Life Skills students for work experience, and three of four worked out.
Shivana Nand is working at Cascade Laundry and has also been offered part-time paid work this summer, and Amber Richmond works short stints at McDonald's because her cerebral palsy limits her physical stamina.
Kokubun said the work experience program has made a world of difference to the students who participate.
"Amber can't be offered a job right now because she has cerebral palsy and she hasn't got the physical stamina as it's painful for her to be standing," Kokubun said. "But she loves going there and she wipes the tables and even on days when we know she's having a bad day, she still wants to go because that's the highlight of her week.
"It has made the world of difference in her self-esteem. She feels proud of herself and she feels like she's growing up and it's so meaningful."
Nand had open-heart surgery in January and according to Kokubun, "the first thing she wanted to do was get back into the laundromat."
"The idea behind the work experience placement is to find work that capitalizes on what the students are able to do, instead of what they're unable to do," she said.
"It's amazing to watch how happy it makes them to feel to contribute in a workplace - something almost everyone takes for granted."
