A dream to give back

It had always been something they talked about.For roughly four years, Kellie Harrington worked tirelessly to kickstart her “Autism Rocks Wyoming,” a group founded to raise both money and awareness about the disorder throughout the community. While her organization has done a good job to raise awareness, Harrington felt passionately about supporting others in a more direct way.“I want to give individuals what I never had,” she says. “When I moved to Greybull there was no support group for me to go to and [talk about] what’s wrong.”Barbie Camblin (Hart), a provisional professional counselor, and her daughter, Ashley Darois, a certified medicaid provider, have dedicated their professional careers to supporting individuals with autism. Through their lines of work, Camblin and Darois have become deeply ingrained in the autism community; they’ve worked with individuals to help them manage their autism, and worked to provide support for parents and families of individuals with autism.“There’s [very few support groups] that specialize in Autism,” Camblin says, adding providing support for individuals with autism is difficult due to the spectrum nature of the disorder. "There are different [a lot of] personalities.”Although there is no concrete statistic regarding the number of individuals with autism across the country, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that in 2014, the rate of prevalence in children had increased from 1 in 150 to 1 in 68.While organizations such as the Autism Society of America or Autism Speaks have sparked the national conversation and provided a call to action, Wyoming is relatively insulated from national efforts. Currently, the state has no active chapter of the Autism Society of America; direct support groups and other resources are also limited in scope, with virtually none serving the state’s rural populations.Acknowledging the lack of access to resources and support groups, Darois, Camblin, Kellie Harrington and her mother, Bonnie, banded together to start not one, but two support groups in Greybull.“Bonnie was very excited,” Camblin said of the new parent and family support group. “She's set this up to make it accessible [for residents in] Big Horn County. I've been trying to get this going for the last year.”Darois echoed similar sentiments and excitement about the new group. According to her, Kellie had previously floated the idea of doing something similar, but was unsure of the way to structure it.“[Barbie] and I had been talking about this for two years or so,” Darois said. “Kellie [also] brought it up because it was something she wanted for her organization. Bonnie [and Barbie] decided to start one for parents [and] suggested that we start a support group for individuals with autism.”Camblin said her and Bonnie Harrington’s group provides parents with resources but also a non-clinical outlet to discuss supporting their child with autism in everyday life.“When families talk about certain situations, it's nice to hear other parents support them and give advice,” she said. “It's about letting you know that you're not alone; that you have support from each other.”Bonnie Harrington serves as coordinator for the group while Camblin monitors and facilitates discussion. Camblin said the group is a lax departure from the clinical nature of other autism resources.“This is more [to provide] a relaxed environment for the families,” Camblin said. “It's much more personal than [clinical]; the environment is very comfortable to be in.”Darois touched on the scope of her and Kellie Harrington’s support group. Focused on individuals with autism, they aim to provide a place for individuals to not only socialize but also discuss things they struggle with and find common ground with others.“Individuals with Autism struggle with talking to others. When they're around other individuals with autism and they hear them talk about what their daily life is like, they're going to go 'oh, that's how I feel too,’” she said. “By going once a month and getting these things out, they feel confident talking knowing that no one will judge them.”Kellie Harrington touched on her personal experiences as a major driving factor to pursue the group. As someone with autism, Kellie has overcome various obstacles and wishes to impart the knowledge she has gained to others that may be struggling with similar things.“We're there for those who need it,” she said. “We're giving individuals they want; we're filling a gap and giving them something I wanted but never got.”Darois and Kellie Harrington’s partnership in the group serves an important purpose. As a professional, Darois provides the group with expertise and mentorship.“As a provider, I'm here to be a mentor for Kellie and the other individuals,” she said. I'm a provider; this is my line of work. For me to be able to do the support group with Kellie, it's a very amazing thing for us.”For Kellie Harrington, putting on the support group was a challenge in and of itself. According to her, apart from the idea to do it, neither her nor Darois had a formal plan to start it.Everything they do in the group has been built from scratch using firsthand experiences and Darois’ background as a medicaid provider.“Kellie is going to learn from it — she's going to learn how to lead it and how to keep everyone motivated and keep the focus on each individual,” Darois said.Harrington said running the group has been a very fulfilling experience.“Sometimes there are moments that [I try new things] and they'll come back and say it helped them. It makes me feel good; it tickles my heart [knowing I helped them,” she said.Both support groups are held the second Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Darois and Kellie Harrington’s individual support group is held at the Greybull Public Library; Camblin and Bonnie Harrington’s parent support group is held at the Greybull Historic Hotel.