My goal was to create a club at the Pacific Autism Family Network (PAFN) for neurodiverse young adults who were interested in trains and/or modelling, and as a team, build a model train layout. We were very successful, and this has been shown through the commitment of our members and the connections they have built with one another.
There were many steps I had to undergo in developing the club. Firstly, I did a survey and was able to find enough potential members, allowing me to go forward with the steps to create the club. I made slides for the purpose of pitching my idea to PAFN and for holding an info session with potential members of the club. We needed money for the materials, so I worked alongside PAN to source grants that I then applied for. After successfully landing a grant, I met with PAFN to discuss further logistics related to social dynamics, finding a space at their building where we could meet and purchasing supplies. After everything was put in place for the club to happen, I worked with the PAFN social media team member to create a poster that would be used to advertise an info session related to the club. Lastly, we went out to buy the supplies and held an info session so people could learn about the club and sign up to join.
Over time, as our train layout developed, there were times when mistakes happened and also times when I had to adapt my leadership style. There were times when materials didn’t act as I thought they would, leading to times where we had to cut back some scenery, allowing us to adjust the structural components of the layout. Sometimes, smaller details were overlooked, and then when it came to installing some sections, so later on it became more difficult to fill the gaps after more had been built around these sections. I then learned the importance of planning for the future on a more micro level. On a social level, everyone works differently, so it took time to figure out how much direction different members needed in order to best support them so they could get the most enjoyment out of the club. It is important that we are able to take the time to keep the space we use clean while also allocating time for building and running trains. My Dad helped me recognize how I should re-order our schedule so that it guaranteed that everything would be left as we found it while also allowing time for modelling, socializing and running trains.
Looking back eight months ago until now, it has been an exciting journey building the Track Together Model train club for neurodiverse young adults with the support and guidance from PAFN. Our club is running smoothly and has the supplies necessary, thanks to Neighbourhood Small Grants and Face The World foundations. Our members really appreciate the support you have given, helping to allow our club to function smoothly. We started with five members, and now our club is ready to expand, allowing more people to join, which I am really excited about, as this will allow others to join the community. Over time, I started to realize how important the social component was, since as we got to know each other more, we started connecting with each other, sharing our own train and non-train related experiences with each other!
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