FEATURED FAMILY
MEET THE
MITCHELL FAMILY IN THE MITCHELL FAMILY, AUTISM ROCKS AND ROLLS! DR. DAROLYN “LYN” JONES • PHOTOS BY BOUNANNO PHOTOGRAPHY
Meet Gina and Sam Mitchell! When this mother-son duo received Sam’s diagnosis of autism, they chose not to listen to what Sam wouldn’t be able to do, but instead lean into it and celebrate all of the wonderful things Sam would be able to do. The Mitchell family is from Owensburg, Indiana. Dad Doug and Mom Gina were born and raised there and have raised Sam there. Gina is an 8th grade English teacher and Doug is an electrician. And Sam is a young man with autism who will be transferring from Ivy Tech to Vincennes University in the fall. Gina and Sam love to play UNO, watch America’s Got Talent, and travel and both believe in the power of education. The Mitchells have a large and extended family and family friends
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that all live in that same area and Sam has been loved and supported by all of them. Gina recognizes that this is sadly not what all families experience and this is something that both she and Sam are very grateful for. And why is that support so important? Because like Sam says, “Autism is hard.” When I was little, I hated loud noises, I had meltdowns if someone moved my toys, I could not focus, I was scared of new situations, and hated my routine. As I got older, those things got better. But also as I got older, the challenges changed. Now, as a 21-year-old man, I can get overwhelmed very easily and feel anxious a lot. When Sam was a sophomore in high school, he decided he’d had enough of being excluded at school. He decided that he did not care what
others thought of him and he started to feel good about the small circle he did have. The next step, according to Sam, “literally saved my life.” Sam joined his high school’s media club and fell in love with podcasting. And after high school, he decided he wanted to keep doing it. It totally changed his life and his family’s life too. Autism Rocks and Rolls (ARAR) is a podcast that Sam started when he was 16. That led to the formation of an advocacy organization named Autism Rocks and Rolls Corporation. Sam is now almost 21 years old and still running the podcast. Sam was diagnosed with autism when he was 4. The podcast started as a hobby and Sam simply wanted the world to hear what he had to say about the emotional side of autism.
