It was practice as usual for Malvern Prep's football team this season, and with the help of their new football manager, the Friars successfully went (4-1) in the league, winning their share of the Inter-Ac Championship Title with Germantown Academy.
As PSD reporter Jenna Meissner tells us, for this young man, getting the chance to be a part of this winning season was a dream of a lifetime.
MALVERN, PA – Eighteen-year-old Grayson Mease has a simple dream: to be part of a football team. For many boys his age, achieving this dream is as easy as trying out. But for Grayson, it’s much more than that.
The Berks County resident is one of more than 3.5 million Americans living with autism.
“Sometimes I have a hard time understanding and I went to PAAL to learn how to be independent,” said Mease.
Preparing Adolescents with Autism for Adult Life (PAAL), is a community-based program based out of Downingtown, PA, that focuses solely on Applied Behavior Analysis with their students.
For the past ten years, the initiative has had tremendous success in utilizing its students’ environments by transforming them into classrooms. The secondary educational program is dedicated to students ages 14 through 21 with moderate to severe autism.
“We’re not a cookie-cutter program. We develop curriculum base on the individual needs of our students. We felt that it [Malvern] would be a great peer-mentoring opportunity for Grayson and provide the ideal environment to gain the social skills that he needs moving forward in his life,” said PAAL’s community outreach chair Eric Shindledecker.
Mease is one of the first to become a student manager outside of the Malvern program.
For the past two months, Mease became a familiar part of the football team. He arrived at practice every day from 3:30 to 5p.m. As manager, Mease would set-up the field for defensive drills, help the quarterbacks spot footballs and hand out water to the players.
“I’ve been getting along with the football players. They talk to me to see how my day was. I like spending time with them on the field and during the games. I like cheering them on the sidelines,” said Grayson.
Malvern Prep prides themselves on the theme of brotherhood and some of those brothers have eagerly stepped in to be Mease’s mentors.
(pictured left to right: Mentors Danny Garrity, Connor Reagan, Grayson Mease, MP head coach Aaron Brady)
Malvern junior Connor Reagan, was excited about the chance to meet Grayson.
“Coach Brady sent out an email to everyone throughout the school…and I thought I’d take it because it’s a good opportunity. It has changed a lot of my views on people with Autism,” said Reagan.
For junior football player Danny Garrity, mentoring Mease further solidified his path of wanting to become a physician.
“What I’m thinking about being when I grow up is a doctor and as a doctor you have to work with all different types of people and I thought this was great exposing me to the struggles of Autism,” said Garrity.
Garrity soon realized the time he spent with Mease meant so much more...
“It winded up being one of the best things I’ve done at Malvern so far. Grayson is the nicest kid you’ll ever meet. He always wants to help and is eager to please. We incorporated him into our team and I’m glad he’s a part of us.”
Shindledecker agreed adding, “…Watching how the team has welcomed him in with open arms and how quickly they were introducing themselves and making him part of their world was unbelievable to me.”
According to head coach Aaron Brady, Mease has become an integral part of their squad.
“He’s no different than anybody else. That’s the thing our kids are seeing. He is a polite well-mannered young man. We were really excited to have him," said Brady.
For Mease, his experience with the team has helped increase his confidence level and social skills.
“We brought him in to be a part of our family and it means so much for him to be with us. He fits right in. You don’t even know he’s here some days. He’s just one of the guys,” said Brady.
Grayson assists with spot drills
Mease is already talking about returning to Malvern after the football season to take on more responsibilities for other sports like basketball or baseball throughout the year.
For more on PAAL go to paalprogram.org