BEACHWOOD, Ohio — The Beachwood Family Aquatic Center hosted the 5th annual Leaf Party Day, which celebrated Bartu Hatipoglu, 20, who is on the autism spectrum and loves leaves.
Leaf Party Day was born from Bartu coming to the pool, receiving fake leaves to play with and showing them around to all the kids and they chant “leaf party.”
Community Service Director for Beachwood Derek Schroeder saw the impact Bartu and his leaves have on people.
“It’s just a pretty unique opportunity for everyone to celebrate diversity together, be a little creative, and really show self expression,” he said.
Bartu’s mother, Betul, was moved by what the Beachwood community did to make her son feel included.
“I feel very grateful that Beachwood community embraced him, accepted him, and uses him as an example to teach the children that being different is okay,” she said.
Although, it has not always been this easy for her or Bartu. She used to fear the way people may treat him because of his differences.
“A fear that they will never feel the same or accepted like the rest of us, and today totally erases that,” she said. “And I truly hope all the mothers out there who are worrying about their very non-traditional children will feel it deeply within themselves that it is okay that they are different.”
But the smile on Bartu’s face the entire Leaf Party Day was undeniable, and it brought his mom the greatest form of happiness.
“If there’s a highest point in one’s life, feeling that joy, that’s how he feels,” she said.
