LEGOS HELP BUILD BRIDGE TO FUTURE
Scott Flynn has found his niche and labor of love.
As a boy, the Lafayette resident would spend hours in a state of reverie, creating characters and battle scenarios from myriad Lego sets he had built. Even with an aptitude for identifying thousands of minuscule figurines, having a chance to harness that passion and apply it to a future profession seemed a long shot.
“His mind is fantastic. Scott has a tremendous memory. He just has trouble articulating, but when it does come out, you’re blown away,” said his uncle Mark Flynn, who lives in Pleasant Hill.
Still, Scott, at age 22, having completed the transitions and workability program at the Acalanes School District’s Del Valle Education Center with an official diagnosis of autism two years prior, was anxious about where he might find gainful employment.
All of that went by the wayside when his parents surprised him last spring with news of their latest venture, purchasing a franchise of Bricks & Minifigs in Concord, where he would have job security and fulfill a longtime dream.
“I wasn’t expecting it. It just came. I was kind of shocked,” Scott said. “It made me less worried about looking for a suitable job.”
“It’s about quality of life. ... The objective is Scott, to develop his social skills, his confidence. It’s about him progressing,” said his father, Bob Flynn, who came out of a short retirement to run the store, which is the place for Legos fans to buy, sell and trade the bricks and miniature figurines.
While many an employee doesn’t pay much attention to the sensory aspects of their work environment, for Scott Flynn it is essential.
Part of his developmental disability is a very heightened sensitivity to noise and lighting, and adversely detecting “vinegar, garlic and onions from a mile away,” describes his mom, Patty Flynn. “It would be like if I was asked to put my hand in a bucket of worms.”
“Legos don’t smell, which is wonderful,” Scott said.
“It’s heartbreaking to think there are people who don’t have the time or money to do this,” she said, describing the tireless advocacy for her son. “It’s taken every inch of brainpower, emotions and creativity. … It’s hope- and faith-based.”
Meanwhile, Scott, whose favorite task is sorting through boxes of Lego pieces, looking for that unexpected treasure, has discovered a collegial rapport with a co-worker, Fairfield resident and retired U.S. Air Force medical administrator Charles Thompson, who is on par with Flynn’s vast product knowledge.
“We collaborate, joke around,” said Thompson, describing Scott as “quiet, delicately mannered ... (and) his humor is very unexpected.”
“Just be patient and he’ll come around,” Thompson adds. “He’s taught me patience is pretty much the key for everything.”
Area programs, such as the one at Del Valle, steadfastly give such developmentally disabled adults a leg up, with extensive functional life skills training, such as cooking and meal planning, budgeting, shopping and navigating public transportation, with goals tailored to the individual, and continually assessed.
“We take them where they are and move them forward,” said Karen Heilbronner, Acalanes district’s director of special education and auxiliary services, “and they’re all in different places. They’re all unique.”
For those on the job track, the district provides job coaching, including interviewing skills, dress code and how to behave at a job site, and then placement, funded by the state’s annual, approximately $140,000 workability grant. Students have the opportunity to earn a paycheck, working a few hours a week.
“It gives them a sense of accomplishment,” Heilbronner said.
For the past five years, nine young adults help out at the Hospice Thrift Shoppe in Walnut Creek, each showing an ever-cheerful work ethic that is rewarding for store manager Nicole Kannier.
“What I see in them is this innocence. When I work with them, it’s a breath of fresh air,” she said.