Cape students collaborate to create booklet about autism

For Cape High senior Taylor Lampron, a creative writing piece that started as a class assignment turned into a powerful story that will be published in the coming months.

“When I first read Taylor’s writing piece in my class, I was so impressed,” said Eileen Springfield, English teacher at Cape. “Mr. Jason Fruchtman, one of the art teachers here, recommended Samantha Strunk be the illustrator. From there, the rest was history! The two girls worked together all last winter to fine-tune and illustrate the story. They are continuing to work together today updating and revising it so they can share it with the community soon.”

Lampron and Strunk created the booklet, “A Fruit Loop in a Bowl of Oats.”

Set up like a story, the informational booklet is about a young girl named Ida, who has autism. “The story is seen and told through the eyes of Ida’s sister Rachel,” said Lampron. “The first half focuses on Rachel’s point of view and gives the background and life story of her sister. The second half follows the interaction of Rachel and her friend Bethany, who doesn’t know anything about autism, so Rachel takes it upon herself to teach her all that she can.”

“Right now, we’re putting the finishing touches on a second edition, and once it’s finished, our hope is to have local merchants and stores in our area carry it for the public to purchase,” said Strunk. “We would love for everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy this story, and even learn something about autism that they may not have known before.”

Once the story is ready, more information will be available on the district website and social media pages. Anyone interested in donating toward the book’s publication can contact Taylor Lampron or Samantha Strunk at lampronstrunk@yahoo.com.