XENIA, Ohio — Some developmentally disabled teens and young adults in Xenia are planning their own version of Comicon for Greene County.

What You Need To Know

  • Greene Co. hosts free monthly pizza parties for those interested in fantasy. 

  • Organizers are planning a Comicon event for Greene Co. in 2024.

  • Josh Welhener, of the Greene Co. Bd. of Dev. Disabilities, is coordinating the effort.

They’re working on the event during monthly meetings that include lots of pizzas and fun fantasy-themed activities.

“This is our first meeting of the Council of Elron for 2023,” said Josh Welhener of the Greene Co. Board of Developmental Disabilities. “It’s a catch-all group for everything that falls into anime, cosplay, dungeons and dragons, magic the gathering. They come here, they make friends and they learn what they’re interested in."

Welhener said they also have a growing YouTube community that has their own channels and makes their own videos while learning about video editing. 

“I’m looking for community members who are experts in all of these things to join us,” Welhener said.

“Josh really wants to see individuals with disabilities integrated and that’s where this stems from,” said Kathy Kleiser. She worked as a special ed teacher for 37 years. Now, she’s a transition coordinator n Greene County,

“I like working with that age of helping parents and students transition into adulthood and helping them to get involved both their work life, their social life, and their independent living life,” she said. “I think these kinds of things are very important because that’s a piece of it.”

One participant is a success story of what organizers hope to see out of the young people coming to the events. Lindsey Williams graduated from Wright State University in Salina with an associate’s degree in graphic design and started her own company, Golden Mane Illustrations.

“I do furry artwork that helps marginalized communities like the LGBTQIA and the disability community,” Williams said. “I hope to inspire other people and give hope.”

Williams and the other participants are gearing up to host Greene County Comicon in 2024.

They think events like the monthly council meetings show they can pull off a Comicon event.

“It’s really exciting to see all this happening,” Williams said.