Madden Orlovsky, the 13-year-old son of ESPN broadcaster Dan Orlovsky, made headlines this year with a heart-warming appearance on his father’s show, NFL Live. The studio set was decorated with the boy’s colorful sketches, featured on floor-to-ceiling screens, to mark World Autism Awareness Day. “I have an autistic son,” his proud dad told viewers. “And his superpower is drawing.”
Among the many viewers moved by the appearance was Kelsey Click, enterprise success manager at Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company headquartered in nearby Exton. Click started a chain of events that culminated on Nov. 5 with the unveiling of Madden’s artwork at the latest All Abilities STEM Clinic. The event is a hands-on science fair for kids held twice a year at the Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field stadium, better known as the “the Linc.”
The clinics are sponsored by the Eagles Autism Foundation and Bentley. The events, Click says, are “a testament to the power of community, innovation, and inclusion.”
Madden’s illustrations grace the cover of a new coloring book featured at the November event, which he attended with his mother, sister, and brothers—he’s a triplet, and though they live in Connecticut, he and his family are Eagles fans.
An Idea Takes Root
Click, who has a background in special education, is the driving force behind the STEM clinics, along with Dan O’Brien, Bentley’s global director of philanthropy and impact.
The coloring book designed by Madden Orlovsky.Click says the idea for the coloring book took root this spring, after a coloring station at one of the clinics proved a huge hit. Around the same time, Madden made his appearance on ESPN, where he walked through the displays of his drawings, mesmerized with a huge grin. Madden’s father, after an emotional pause, explained the decor—and he wasn’t the only one who choked up. “I happened to have NFL Live on that day,” Click says. “I see this play live, and I’m a crier, so I lost it!”
Learning the Orlovsky family were Eagles fans, Click reached out to Madden’s mother, Tiffany, to see if Madden might get involved in the STEM clinics. Then she had an idea: “I think about the coloring book, and I think, ‘How cool would it be if Madden made the logo?’ So I reach out to Tiffany. She goes, ‘Hey, that’s a great idea. Let me see what I can get him to do.’”
Go Birds!
Madden’s cover art features Swoop, the beloved Eagles mascot, inside a STEM-themed design. The book also includes Madden’s “player’s card” with his bio, vital statistics, and favorite athlete, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.
“From about the age of 2, Madden was always creating characters and drawing,” Tiffany Orlovsky writes in the book. “We think it’s his way of expressing himself, especially at a young age when he didn’t talk much. Now we have boxes and boxes of comics and cartoons that he pulls from his imagination. His imagination is his superpower!”
The book was part of the gift bag given to neurodiverse children and teens taking part in the clinic, which included 3D printing, magnetic race cars, mini robots, Avatar-making, eraser races, and 3D geospatial experiences powered by Cesium, which is part of Bentley.
For parents, the clinics provide a safe and welcoming space for their kids to explore. Jamie Aldridge says her children “fell in love” with the first STEM clinic and have been at each one since. “This is engaging, it’s interesting, they love that science is fun and it’s something that they can relate to,” Aldridge says. “It’s really important that they get to see and be a part of something that they may not be a part of on a daily basis within their educational setting.”
Stephanie Stricker says the events “opened the door” to new experiences for her kids. “With the STEM clinics, they’ve been able to play with robots and build rocket ships and have all these really cool experiences that they didn’t have in everyday life,” Stricker says. “Our school district is very STEM focused, so not only is it fun but it also ties into what they’re learning at school.”
Hope and Excitement
For Click, the clinics provide something more precious than STEM-related fun: hope.
“At the last clinic, when we were able to put engineering software in the hands of these young kids, I got to sit there with parents and say, ‘Do you know I work with adult men and women every day teaching them how to do this, and y’all’s kids are just picking it up with no issue? This is the world where they’ll have a place and be successful,’” Click says.
“So it’s the hope—and the excitement of the mom who works so hard with the therapies and the resources that don’t really exist.”
The Superbowl-winning Eagles are long known for their work for children with autism. Along with the All Abilities clinics, the Eagles Autism Foundation holds an annual challenge where thousands of people take part in bike rides or walk/runs. This year’s challenge raised a record $10 million for autism research and programs.
Among 8-year-olds in the U.S., about 1 in 31 is affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with about 3 times as many boys diagnosed as girls, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The video in the story is hosted on YouTube and is shared here using YouTube’s official embed tools. All content, trademarks, and rights remain with the original publisher.
