Harmony Heights Day School, in East Norwich, is partnering with a Port Washington high school student, Ava Lefkowitz, to introduce an autism debate workshop designed to help students strengthen their communication, public speaking and self-advocacy skills.
Lefkowitz, 16, a junior at Paul D. Schreiber High School, developed the Find Your Voice Autism Debate Workshop to help autistic people build on their communication strengths while learning strategies to express themselves and advocate for their needs.
The program is expected to debut at Harmony Heights during its six-week summer program, with school administrators planning to evaluate the curriculum before potentially incorporating it into the school’s regular academic offerings.
Harmony Heights Principal Tatiana Pejkovic said the idea of partnership emerged after she connected with Lefkowitz’s mother, Adina Storch, at a volunteer event in support of the school, and learned about the educational initiatives that Lefkowitz and her younger sister, Solenne, a sophomore, were developing.
Ava, a junior, said she was inspired by techniques she observed while volunteering at Spectrum Designs, a Port Washington-based printing and embroidery company that employs autistic people. Her interest in autism advocacy also grew from personal experiences with a cousin who is autistic, and children she met while receiving treatment for a pediatric feeding disorder at St. Mary’s Hospital, in Bayside, as a child.
Recalling her conversation with Storch, Pejkovic said, “When she was telling me about these things that her daughters were doing, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, that would be perfect for Harmony,’” Pejkovic said, recalled. “‘If you want schools to kind of pitch the programs to get them off the ground to build a foundation with, I’d be more than happy to do that, because it perfectly aligns with the students that we have and with the skill set that they need.’”
The workshop, Pejkovic explained, addresses challenges that some students face when they speak publicly, share their opinions or manage anxiety. Harmony Heights hopes to adapt Lefkowitz’ curriculum to accommodate its smaller classes and students’ individual needs.
The summer course would consist of six weeks of daily 55-minute classes. Pejkovic said that the school and Lefkowitz are discussing how to make lessons flexible enough to accommodate different class sizes and students’ varying comfort levels with public speaking.
“So there’s a lot of layers there that our students can then use later,” Pejkovic said. “You know, when they leave high school they have to be able to go to college and advocate for the needs that they have. They have to be able to do presentations. They have to be able to write arguments and essays and things. And so I think being able to collaborate all of that together would be a great benefit for them.”
Lefkowitz said her workshop draws on research into how autistic people learn and communicate. The curriculum uses visual cues and physical objects to help participants retain information and practice communication techniques.
“We teach them essentially how to harness the strengths that they already have,” she said, “and then also, in other ways, communicate through more traditional channels to help advocate for themselves.”
One exercise, called Lights Out Listening, uses a lamp to help participants practice managing stress during difficult conversations. When the light is turned off, participants are encouraged to close their eyes, think about something calming and regain their composure before returning to the discussion.
Through her volunteering, research and conversations with families, Lefkowitz said, she became concerned about the challenges people with autism can face when transitioning out of school and losing access to educational support.
She also founded Schreiber High’s chapter of Best Buddies International, an organization that promotes inclusion for people with disabilities.
She developed the debate workshop independently, working with Spectrum Designs, a screen printer provider that employs neurodivergent people, to host her first session. She eventually created a website, AutismDebate.org, and began contacting autism advocacy organizations and other potential partners to expand the program.
Pejkovic said that Harmony Heights previously offered a public speaking class, while an earlier debate course focused on government topics rather than the communication needs of the school’s current student population. The new partnership, she added, reflects a broader shift toward educational approaches that emphasize students’ individual development and practical skills.
She said she hoped that when students learn that someone their own age develop the curriculum, they will be encouraged to engage with it. “It’s inspiring that even somebody in high school can make such a large impact,” Pejkovic said.
Harmony Heights plans to assess how the curriculum works during the summer before deciding whether to integrate it into its full-year programming. For more information on the school, visit its website, HarmonyHeights.org.
