"Mario" and "Luigi," famous locally as part of the "8 Chicken Nuggets" are spreading happiness on one Buckeye street corner.
The idea started when Michelle Myers and her family were told they couldn't perform at their church anymore.
The family, who are ethnically part-Jewish, wore Stars of David to a Christian church. They were told to either take off anything identifying them as Jewish, or they wouldn't be able to perform anymore.
Myers and her family decided to leave the church. But they made a positive out of a negative.
"I just said 'you know what, I really feel that we're meant to make a difference for people, and just show them that there's more good in the world. So that started on the corner," Myers said.
Myers is a mother to seven and one of the self-named 8 Chicken Nuggets. Aside from being a family, they have one more thing in common: they all have autism. Myers said they came up with the name because, according to her, autistic people often like chicken nuggets.
Aside from being involved in the local arts scene, 8 Chicken Nuggets are beloved in the community for dancing on the intersection of Yuma and Watson Roads in Buckeye. They dress up as popular characters from the Super Mario franchise, such as Mario, Luigi, Bowser and Princess Peach.
The intersection is a busy one. People often honk as they pass by in their cars and some pedestrians join the dancing. The 8 Chicken Nuggets can often be found in nearby Costco or Walmart during the summer months.
The family members were all diagnosed in 2009. While the children all received an autism diagnosis, at a young age, Myers was diagnosed at the same time as an adult after having been misdiagnosed her entire life.
Myers and her children also all battle Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare genetic connective tissue disorder that leads to overly flexible joints and fragile skin.
Myers, who raised her children as a single mother, is no stranger to the spotlight: in 2018, the mother of seven made headlines across the country when she woke up with a British accent after going to sleep with a crippling migraine.
She was diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome, a disorder that is most often triggered by a stroke or brain injury and alters speech in terms of timing, tongue placement and intonation. She represents one of only about 100 documented cases within the last century.
These days, Myers manages 8 Chicken Nuggets, which is a family business that showcases the talents of her children. All eight of them are artistic, with talents ranging from acting to singing to dancing.
On their website, the 8 Chicken Nuggets have albums, books and t-shirts available for purchase. Myers has also released a number of books in her own name, such as one that helps adults with autism navigate the world and another fantasy novel.
They also recently entered into a local film competition and are involved in the local Buckeye arts scene.
When her ex-husband left the family, Myers said they were left without beds, surviving on food stamps and food pantries.
In addition to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, the Myers family has dealt with a number of other health issues. Myers' 25-year-old daughter, Diamond, is currently battling juvenile diabetes and Crohn's disease. And in 2013, her 28-year-old daughter Destiny suffered a brain injury. That same year, Myers suffered a stroke that left her in a wheelchair for three years.
"We all prayed a lot. We sang a lot. And music is what helped us," Myers said.
Myers raised her kids in a creative household, herself having grown up writing music and playing the piano.
"They all innately just sang, danced, played instruments. It was just gifts that we say are from God so that we could maybe help people feel a little bit less doom and gloom about being autistic," Myers said.
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How the 8 Chicken Nuggets found a community in Buckeye
Myers and her children raise awareness about autism through art, which is how they got to Super Mario and became beloved by the Buckeye community.
Myers and her family were devastated after leaving the church and decided to put more positive energy out into the world. The family started to dress up as Nintendo characters and perform at the intersection of Yuma and Watson roads in Buckeye.
According to 19-year-old Sunshine Walters-Myers, the family has always enjoyed Nintendo games. The costumes have a special place in their hearts because their mom let them wear them year-round when they were growing up.
At first, the reception from the community wasn't all positive, with some people shouting racial expletives at the family, who is part-Black.
But they persisted, and the response eventually turned overwhelmingly positive, Myers said. In addition to dancing, the 8 Chicken Nuggets also hold up signs to empower people who have autism and raise awareness. They hold up signs that read "autistic people are amazing" and "it's okay to cry sometimes," for example.
"We realized it doesn't matter what people think. What do I want to do? I want to spread love and joy to kids, families, sisters, brothers," said Tyler Walters.
The 8 Chicken Nuggets are frequently active on Facebook, often posting in Buckeye-related Facebook pages. They often receive an overwhelming number of comments (with the occasional negative one) from people expressing that seeing them perform made their day.
Some commenters have said that the 8 Chicken Nuggets have made them feel better about their own diagnosis of autism or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Some commenters simply say that passing by the Super Mario characters brought a smile to their face.
Over the past few years, Myers said she has received hundreds of messages from community members.
One such message was from a woman whose child had just been diagnosed with autism. She was stopped at a red light in the intersection crying, only to look up and see Mario holding up a sign that said "everything is going to be ok," Myers said. That's why the 8 Chicken Nuggets continue to do what they do, Myers said, even in the heat.
"We know what it's like to be devastated," Myers said.
And it's no easy feat. The family is more susceptible to injuries since Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affects connective tissue and joints.
Both Diamond and 22-year-old Rose Myers-Walters have heart conditions, as a result of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which makes the family more susceptible to injuries. And Tyler Walters, 21, sometimes has to walk with a cane after dislocating his ankle while dancing.
"Even though people just see them dancing out there for an hour, you have two, three hours of recovery at home and sometimes days," Myers said.
Tyler Walters said he is motivated to continue dancing as a way to spread love and joy.
"It's a beautiful thing. And I love being a part of this group that we created," he said.
In addition to the public being supportive, Myers said her family also found support in the Buckeye Police Department. She and her family have done several public service announcements with the city for things like fire safety. Several police officers have even stopped by the house to check in on the family, Myers said.
"I've never lived in a place where people were like this with us. And we have felt very welcomed, especially as neurodiverse people," Myers said.
8 Chicken Nuggets advocate through local art
Tyler Walters and his twin brother Tyson have gotten more involved in the growing Buckeye arts scene. They perform at an open mic at the Coyote Branch of the Buckeye Public Library on the last Wednesday of every month and at a food truck event at Youngker High School on the first Friday of every month.
Myers, with her son David, 23, wrote and illustrated a children's book called "Newton's Autistic Brain: The Big Moon" about an arctic fox who goes to a new school for people gifted in the arts. The book serves as a celebration of neurodiversity, something the family has done through various artistic outlets.
The family also submitted a short film to a competition held by Buckeye-based Creative Arts Production Academy.
CEO Shamira van den Akker said the Production Academy proves the demand for more artistic opportunities in Buckeye and in the West Valley. The company was started about a year ago and focuses on getting people involved in the arts.
In addition to putting on community events, the Production Academy provides both homeschool and community classes for children of various ages, such as theater classes, film classes and backstage theater classes.
The film challenge served as a way to get families involved. Each family had 72 hours to make a film, with nine total submitted.
Rose Myers-Walters' passions include costume and design and film, so the film challenge was perfect for the family. The film is called "Silverstone" and is about a family that goes through a tragedy and uses music to overcome challenges.
The short film, which is about five minutes long, will premiere with the other nine films at the Harkins Theatres on Estrella Parkway in Goodyear on Monday at 6:30 p.m. 8 Chicken Nuggets will also be performing at Buckeye's Juneteenth celebration on June 15.
Myers set up a GoFundMe page for her daughter Diamond's medical expenses, which are currently over $7,000.
Reach the reporter atahardle@gannett.comor by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter:@AlexandraHardle.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 8 Chicken Nuggets raise autism awareness and empowerment in Buckeye
