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To help his sister find more friends, Miami Palmetto High School senior Adam Cohen started an organization called CPSocieTeens.
“My sister has Cerebral Palsy. She’s going to be in ninth grade at Palmetto,” he says. “She’s a very smart individual. She always amazes us with some of the things she says sometimes.”
Making new friends in school has been difficult for Arielle because of her disability. So, in 2017, Cohen put the group together and set up meetings in common places like parks.
“People with the same types of life struggles get together,” he says. “They can relate. It helps people, not just my sister, make friends. They struggle to do that. We put together, with a bunch of volunteers, a support group for pre-teens and teens with physical impairments that strives for members to encourage and support one another while enjoying time together.”
They would meet once or twice a month. COVID-19 made it harder to meet so they slowed down somewhat, but Cohen says they are going to start up again once the pandemic comes to an end.
“The last time we met was at Suniland Park,” he says. “We let them socialize freely. We brought out food. Chips. Drinks. Last time we brought out pizza.”
He also likes to go to Matheson Hammock.
“It’s really nice to get together there,” he says.
The kids range in age from 13-16.
“It was aimed initially toward helping my sister get out there and make friends,” he says.
The last time they had 10 or 11 kids in attendance. Cohen says it varies every time because a lot of the CP kids have obligations for their disabilities that they have to go to.
They get the word out on the CPSocieTeens Facebook page and a website (www.CPSociteens.com). People who are interested can reach out to Cohen through the page.
“My parents know a lot of people. They met a lot of parents with CP kids through their shared experiences at various physical therapy sessions,” he says. “They coordinated with the people that they know. Together we made that Facebook account to get to the people we don’t know.”
Since CPSocieTeens started, Cohen says his sister has new friends and talks to them often through text.
It was important to him to help his sister open her world.
“I have to take care of her every day.” he says. “How could I not care for her? Or do something nice for her? It’s the least I could do.”
At Palmetto, Cohen is a point guard on the basketball team. Last year the varsity team had a good year, making it to the regional semi-finals. He personally had a great district finals game and scored 27 points.
He plans to continue to play basketball in college. He’s hoping to get a scholarship and has already spoken to some coaches. He’s on the Team Hardaway Junior travel team which has won a several out-of-state tournaments.
Outside of school he’s one of the head captains for Dunks for Diabetes.
“Every year it’s one big fundraiser to spread awareness for people with diabetes,” he says.
“We would meet every month and just talk about how things are going as far as getting the word out about the event.”
On the day of the event, he refereed games, helped with check-in and made sure everyone was situated.
He also volunteers at The Palace Senior Living Center, helping seniors, helping organize events and even sitting down and playing cards with anyone who wanted to play.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
