Air-Filled Mascots Inflate Job Options

OMAHA, Neb. - KETV.com

What’s 9-feet tall, orange with black stripes and has a 18-inch inflatable tongue? Oh, and it walks, jumps and runs like a man on the moon?

The answer to that riddle is part of a research study being conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe Meyer Institute and an Omaha mascot company.

“Very quickly, I could see this had some real neat potential,” said Dr. Keith Allen, professor of psychology at UNMC’s Munroe Meyer Institute.

Allen is studying whether people with autism can work as mascots inside inflatable walk-around characters. For more than six months, he’s partnered with an Omaha mascot company, putting young adults with autism to work inside inflatable Chester Cheetah mascot costumes.

“The inflated mascot provides a type of insulation from the social environment and sometimes it’s the chaos in a social environment that’s really stressful for an individual with autism,” said Allen.

Autism is a complex developmental disability. Individuals have a difficult time with language and social situations. They are often unemployed or underemployed. The Autism Society reports one in 100 American children are living with autism and the disorder affects 1.5 million people nationwide.

The mascots make appearances at area Wal-Mart stores to promote Frito Lay products. They visit with customers and pose for photos. If successful, the concept could expand nationwide, putting more people to work and raising awareness about the disorder.

“Anyone who gets inside a mascot will come out with a second personality and usually that person will be more exciting and outgoing than the person would be outside the suit,” said Scott Bowen, with Signs and Shapes International.

Bowen’s company created the inflatable mascot concept 20 years ago, selling them in 61 countries around the world. He said his company also takes care of staffing for events around the country and it’s sometimes difficult to find workers.

“To be honest, my only real exposure to autism before we started this was what I had seen in (the movie) Rain Man,” Bowen said. Bowen and Allen said the first part of the study has been an overwhelming success, training nine young men to work as mascots.

“Every single individual we tried, with a few modifications in training, has been able to do a fantastic job,” said Bowen.

The young men said they look forward to the weekends they’re assigned jobs.

“It makes me feel different, like instead of being all cooped up in the house and miserable, it makes me work and be happy and have fun,” said Doug Egger.

Egger is 27-years-old and lives with his mother in west Omaha. Anxiety from Asperger’s syndrome, a higher functioning form of autism, makes it difficult to work long hours in traditional jobs. He's had warehouse type jobs in the past and spends much of his time playing video games and helping his mom around the house.

Pam said the mascot job has been extremely positive for her only child.

“He’s got more confidence. It gives him a little more spending money and he meets other people. It makes him feel good when the kids come up to him and hug him,” said Egger’s mother, Pam.

Egger said Doug knows he’s different and he works hard to fit in.

“When he was first diagnosed, he asked how he got this and I said, nobody knows. He said, could I have brain surgery? And I said, no. That was hard. That was hard,” Pam said.

Doug’s long term goal is to get a steady part time job and move into his own apartment.

He’s taking part in the second phase of the project, operating the mascots in educational settings, like fire safety training seminars for children. This involves higher skills like following a script and cues from another person.

“Once he gets a part time job and gets a little more responsible then maybe he can get a place on his own,” Pam said.

The Autism Action Partnership is sponsoring the research in Omaha.

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