First Former Buddy Club President

[ Image Description:  Picture of Krista (right) and I (left) at Autism Cares Foundation's 2017 Halloween Party. I am wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, black pants with orange jack-o-lanterns on them, an autism awareness ribbon, a red and white sticker name tag, and my curly brown hair is styled half-up half-down. Krista is wearing a pink long-sleeved shirt with a shiny silver awareness ribbon on it, gray pants, and her blonde hair is also styled half-up half-down with sparkly cat ears on. This picture was taken in darkness in a party room and there are some people dancing in the background of us.] Originally uploaded on September 12, 2020 I decided to do my next inclusion interview with my friend, Krista (she/her/hers)! You probably recognize Krista from my posts where we are partying at Autism Cares Foundation events. Krista and I met at my first Autism Cares event, which was the 2017 Halloween Party.  Krista is such a great dancer, so sweet, and very kind. I hope you enjoy...

[ Image Description:  Pattern of 12 face with tears of joy emojis (yellow smiley face laughing with blue tears coming out of closed eyes and an open mouth with teeth showing and black) and 12 black mustaches with a red background] Originally posted on May 30, 2020 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page One of Ben's (he/him/his) favorite things to do is tell jokes. He even has a jokes book and has been sending Jess (the current Buddy Club President; she/her/hers) and I funny jokes while in quarantine. I can guarantee you that you will have a great laugh! 😂 1. "Why didn't the moon want any dessert? Because it was full!" 2. "What do you call a cow who works in a crystal mine? Underground Beef!" 3. "What do you say when the Statute of Liberty sneezes? God Bless America!" 4. "Why did the Jell-O have red lips? Because it was pudding on makeup!" 5. "What is an elephant's favorite candy? Reese's peanut butter cups!" ...

[ Image Description : Car selfie of Reilly (left) and I (right) with mouse filter. The most filters ears are black with bright pink hearts in the middle of each with a tiny black heart-shaped mouse nose and black whiskers. I am wearing black North Face jacket with my seatbelt on and Reilly is wearing a light gray jacket and pink glasses with her seatbelt on. The seatbelts and roof are gray.] Originally posted on June 13, 2020 In honor of my friend Reilly "Riles" (she/her/hers) being one of the most recent Top Fans on my Facebook page, I decided to do my next inclusion interview with Reilly! You probably recognize Reilly from my posts where we are hanging out at the swim club that we belong to in the summer time, our mall and lunch date trips, and partying at Autism Cares Foundation (ACF) events. Reilly and I first met at our swim club during our childhood many years ago and she is one of my closest best friends. She keeps me sane by listening to all of my crazy stories and we...

                                    [ Image Description: Ben (right) and I (left) sitting next to each other on a couch in Be Well Bakery & Cafe. I am wearing an olive green tank top, light olive green, cream, and light pink camouflage shorts, and a purple watch and embroidery string bracelets with my curly brown hair hanging down with a light gray and charcoal striped headband. Ben is wearing a light blue and white striped button-down shirt and blue jeans. There are three people in the background moving around and there is also a brick wall.] Originally posted on April 14, 2020 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page So I have started a new project on here called "Inclusion Interviews." In this project, I will ask my friends with disabilities/disabled/differently-abled friends fun questions about their lives and their interests to spread inclusion to show that they are people too and like many o...

Originally posted on May 16, 2020 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page      I interviewed Erin, the face behind the Mindfully Scientific Mama blog, about her life as former Special Education teacher and mother of a child with disabilities. Erin and her family are originally from Massachusetts and currently reside in the NYC tri-state area. Besides her career and posting on her blog, she has contributed to the Westchester County Moms blog and been a featured blogger for The Inclusive Eating Project on the side. I hope you enjoy reading about Erin's interesting experiences as much as I did!  :) 1. How many children do you have? How old are they? I have one child. They are coming up on two years old. You notice that I refer to them in general neutral terms. I have chosen to do this because they are too young to consent to me discussing them in public, and I would like to protect their identity as much as possible until they are old enough to make an informed decision r...

Originally posted on August 8, 2020 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page (with some information added to the introduction due to updates in Lauren's career and education) [Image Description:  Picture of Lauren who is a brunette female wearing glasses, a blue and white cotton mask, and a charcoal long sleeve sweatshirt that says "BLITZ www.blitztutors.com" in white writing (the "I" in "BLITZ" is lightning bolt shaped. She is also wearing blue gloves while holding one big container with loads of banana bread in it with two medium sized containers of chocolate chip muffins on top standing outside of Holy Redeemer Hospital & Medical Center. ] Lauren (she/her/hers) is Lower Moreland Buddy Club's very passionate Vice President and is going into her senior year of high school. I met her in 2018 when she was a freshman when I was volunteering in the Life Skills Support classroom as an alumni buddy for the rest of their school year after my second year...

[Image Description: Group selfie of 2 people on the left and 3 people on the left; Left side: Girl with curly brown hair wearing a violet velvet headband (me) and a blonde female sitting next to me; Right side: Female wearing a light blue headband, Gerry who a blonde female with Down Syndrome wearing glasses sitting across from the blonde girl next to me, and Jess is sitting on the right side of Gerry wearing color tinted glasses with brown hair ] Originally posted June 27, 2020 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page (with some information added to the introduction due to updates in Jess' career and education) Recently Jess (she/her/hers), the third Buddy Club President from the same high school that I went to, messaged me with a collaboration idea that I have decided to take up upon! I will be interviewing select active buddies of the Lower Moreland Buddy Club about their overall experience with helping and being a friend to the Life Skills students in the school district. Since Je...