Connor and friends

One Sunday afternoon every month during the fall and winter, Connor Lawless, a 13-year-old autistic Rockville Centre resident and his sister and parents are joined by a number of special needs children and their families at the Recreation Center for an hour of free play under the watchful eyes of Rec Center staff and young teen volunteers who are interested in Special Education.

The children, who range in age from 5 to 14, play on exercise mats, with balls and tricycles and other sensory-stimulating objects in unstructured activities. The event, which also includes refreshments and snacks for the children, has come to be known as "Connor and Friends."

"We started it last year informally with just my wife and myself getting in touch with 10-12 other families that we knew with special needs kids, and put the playdates together," said Paul Lawless, Connor's father, an attorney. "It has grown to 30 children from about 20 families." He said people have heard of the program through publicity in the Herald, through the Special Education PTA, the Nassau Suffolk Autism Society's mailing list and through word of mouth. This year, the Rockville Centre Community Fund provided money from a grant to cover the cost of using the Recreation Center.

Lawless comes from a large Rockville Centre family and lived in East Rockaway until three years ago when he, wife Marianne, a nurse, and children Connor and Allison, 10, a fourth grader at St. Agnes Cathedral Elementary School moved to the village. He said that as the parents of a teenage son with autism, he and his wife know that the long winter months can be especially hard. On any given weekend, their "typical" daughter has countless activities, playdates or birthday parties to attend. But Connor would have had nothing to do, so the playdate has turned into a good way to get him out of the house, especially in the dead of winter. And although there are more and more organized activities available for children with special needs in the area, Lawless said, many kids like Connor need a free play environment as an outlet for their energy and enthusiasm.

In addition to benefitting the special needs children, Lawless said the events provide their families with an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and information. It has met that goal and more, he said.

"We established this to attract other parents with special needs kids as well as their typical siblings, and have formed friendships and bonds," he said.

Lawless also said that two additional "Connor and Friends" events are scheduled this year — on March 21 and April 11 —from 12:30- 2 p.m. Anyone interested in the program can contact Paul Lawless at MPLawless@verizon.net.

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