With its spectacular scenery, Letchworth State Park is one of the most beloved parks in our system. But a crucial part of its story is the power of thinking differently.

William Pryor Letchworth, the park’s namesake, was deeply interested in epilepsy, traveling the country and the world in the late 1800s to study how it was treated. It’s not unreasonable to imagine that Letchworth would be proud to know that the park bearing his name is now home to a first-of-its-kind nature trail designed to meet the needs of people with an often misunderstood and stigmatized condition: autism.

“[Epilepsy] was very poorly understood. People with epilepsy were often institutionalized rather than treated. It wasn’t understood as a neurological disease,” said Conrad Baker, environmental educator at Letchworth, in his Share Your Story project video.

The Autism Nature Trail, affectionately known as the ANT, is a fully accessible trail designed to help people with autism connect with nature. The trail has stations for active play, sensory engagement, and quiet contemplation, designed with assistance from world-famous autism advocate and scientist Temple Grandin. Grandin is an animal behaviorist, author and professor.

As an autistic person herself, Grandin also advocates for a better understanding of the needs of people with autism. Studies have shown that young people with autism spend more time indoors than their neurotypical peers. Under her advice, the Autism Nature Trail was located not in an urban park near a population center, but in the “deep nature” of Letchworth.  It was created through a partnership between the Natural Heritage Trust, Camp Puzzle Peace, Letchworth State Park, and Perry Central School District, with ongoing support provided by the ANT Alliance, and opened in 2021.

Baker said the trail is fulfilling its mission to help visitors with autism and other forms of neurodiversity build a connection to the outdoors in a setting that respects them and meets their needs.  

“We see smiling faces from lots of neurodiverse and non-neurotypical communities, we see folks in wheelchairs and all different kinds of ways of getting around,” Baker said. “It’s an extraordinary honor to even witness, let alone be part of, that Autism Nature Trail.”  

Do you have a story of forging a connection to nature at one of our parks or sites? Learn more about the Share Your Story project and submit your memories before 2024 ends.

-Written by Kate Jenkins, Digital Specialist, Albany Public Affairs