Wednesday's Woman: Mary O'Connell

As the mother of five and the foster parent of more than 125 children over the course of three decades, Mary O'Connell is a compassionate, driven woman. In particular, she wants to improve the lives of children with autism. 

Her passion for this specific group began when she and her husband adopted Ellie, a special needs child. 

“She is 10 years younger than our youngest child,” she said. “We had been doing foster care for many years. Every once in a while, a child just melts your heart.” 

Ellie had many physical difficulties as a young child, and as she got older, O'Connell realized that she would need more academic assistance than any of her other four children. 

“I had children that went through the regular education system,” she said, “but had never had anyone who needed special ed services.” 

A New Passion
After a career as a corporate dietician, she found a second wind for the next half of her life and decided to pursue work as a special education teacher. She worked as a special education teacher's aide in 1993, and then graduated with a master's degree in special education with a focus on autism. 

She fell in love with it. 

“The kids I started out with were children who were really severe, with no language skills and major behavior issues,” she said, “but I loved every minute of it.” 

After she graduated, she became a teacher at , where she worked in a self-contained classroom. The children in her class did not have strong language skills but performed well academically. After a transfer to in 2004, she really came into her own. that is in place now. 

“They had a severe class there,” she said, “but we founded one for the higher functioning students with autism.” 

There are now three classes for autism resource class and six self-contained classes, all for children with autism. Pharr Elementary and Sugarloaf Elementary in Buford are the only ones in the county that have all four levels (for the different levels of autism). 

O'Connell is wrapping up her last year in the school system. She will retire this spring, but is expanding her work in the autism field. In part, she is continuing with a summer camp began nine years ago. 

She and another teacher conceived the idea after the local Spectrum Autism Support Group asked them to do so. The children had nowhere to go over the summer and needed a place to practice their social skills and have fun. They now have summer camps seven weeks out of the summer. 

The program expanded, and participants meet on the first Thursday of the month to practice social skills. O'Connell also initiated a drama club, which will have its first performance on April 28. The youth will perform Charlotte's Web. 

“Most kids can learn the skills at school that they really need,” O'Connell said, “and most of the time they can practice those skills. But, children with autism don't generalize skills like most kids do.

"If you teach a child to say hello to an adult as they enter the classroom, most typical kids then know that when they go home or to church, they say hello back to an adult. Children with autism don't do that. This was an opportunity for kids to generalize.” 

Helping Young Adults
As her daughter grew older, O'Connell recognized that her needs changed as well. She needed a chance to connect with other young adults that faced similar issues and a chance to practice the skills she was learning at school. 

“The majority of the things I've done, she benefits from,” she said.

When O'Connell recognizes an unmet need in her daughter, she is aware that other parents my feel the same way, and carves out paths to get those needs met. 

She is in the process of starting a young adult program for those with autism called New Directions. 

“The autism population is growing, and they are getting older,” she said. “There is nothing for kids who age out of the school system, which is the day before they turn 22.” 

The program is still in the planning stages, but O'Connell hopes it is fully functioning by mid-September or the first part of October. 

“I'm so excited about that, because I feel like that's the next step forward,” she said, “so that anyone who has autism has something to do.” 

Together with a planning committee of parents and professionals, O'Connell continues to push forward in the field. Even after research and searching for a model to base their concept off of, she found that there is nothing available, not even out of state. She hopes to expand quickly to different areas of the county, but the biggest obstacle is finding suitable facilities.

Fortunately, there are grants available for such an endeavor. 

“From the research I've done,” she said, “the government and local communities are starting to realize that there needs to be these programs.” 

O'Connell has been busy speaking at conferences and workshops, and most recently presented at the Georgia Autism Conference in March. She is also coordinating with other counties in hopes of bringing her summer camp programs to them. 

“It has been so beneficial in Gwinnett,” she said, “and people have come forward to say that this is a big need. I just feel like we need to expand this throughout the area.”