First Former Buddy Club President

[Image Description:   There are red stage curtains hanging on both sides with a dark opening in the center. There is a row of five stage lights with yellow light shining downward. There is a dark gray silhouette of a female center-aligned on the stage and facing left toward a black microphone positioned on a stand.] CONTENT WARNING: Please know that these instances are not all but only some of my personal experiences as a public speaker with an invisible disability. They do not define my overall experience as a public speaker with an invisible disability. I have also had positive experiences. The objective of this blog post is to advocate about issues that people with invisible disabilities face.      I have been a public speaker for five years. As a person who stutters, I have a unique relationship with public speaking. When people hear me stutter, it is common for either the following things to happen: Some people do not mention or react to my stutter due to automa...

[Image Description: There is a red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple infinity symbol lapel pin with "Define Normal" in center-aligned black text over a white background. The pin is attached to a dark blue and bright yellow lanyard.]      "You look normal to me." "People with disabilities are not normal people." "Disabled people do not live normal lives." What is a "normal person?" What does this even mean? This language is outdated because there is no such thing as being not normal. There is no such thing as looking disabled. Every individual in the disability community experiences their disabilities differently and not all disabilities are obvious. This comment is even worse when it is supposed to be perceived as a compliment. In fact, plenty of people in the disability community actually take referring to people outside of the disability community as "normal" in comparison to them insulting. I will speak freely that t...

[Image Description:  There are 4 intersected curved concrete sidewalks winding through a college campus with multiple scattered leaves on the pavement. There are 4 green grass areas on both sides of each sidewalk. There are 2 black traditional style streetlamps with ornate tops with one that has a blurred red flag attached to its right side, a black sign with its white text blurred, multiple orange and green autumn trees clustered together, and one big building with a brick structure along with a clear blue sky in the background. ] CONTENT WARNING #1: I would like to mention that I am not a college advisor nor professor, high school guidance counselor, or lawyer. All content posted on my disability advocate/teacher influencer page is for educational purposes only with no intent to provide any professional services. Social media should never be used as a substitute for legal advice. If you have any questions or concerns about college life as a high school or college stud...

[Image Description:  The image shows a picture of the book titled "Fish in a Tree" as an aqua colored book cover with an aqua colored fish in a light green tree with "Lynda Mullaly Hunt" in center-aligned white text at the top and "FISH IN A TREE" in bright pink to light blue to dark blue to light orange to turquoise to bright green to light green center-aligned bubble letters. ]     Fish in a Tree written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is about a sixth grader named Ally Nickerson with undiagnosed dyslexia. Ally is frequently sent to the principal's office and has switched schools seven times in seven years because teachers just cannot seem to figure her out nor reach her. Every time Ally is enrolled at a new school, she hides her inability to read by creating disruptive distractions, which is common among students in the learning disability community to do out of frustration about their challenges. Ally experiences frequent bullying, especially from her peers ...

[Image Description: The image has a light pink background with my First Former Buddy Club President logo in the bottom left corner. "This year's Disability Pride Month may be over  –– however, disability pride matters all year round." is in left-aligned bright pink text. "Disability pride is not just an opportunity to celebrate during one month per year. It is a mindset, movement, and commitment to showing up for the disability community every day." is also in left-aligned bright pink text below the previously described text. There are 7 diverse hands raised in solidarity. The first hand on the left has a medium dark skin color and is formed into a closed fist with a charcoal black, dark green, light blue, white, light yellow, dark red, charcoal black striped bracelet around its wrist. The second hand has a medium light skin color and is holding up a disability pride flag. The third hand is a prosthetic hand. The fourth hand has a light skin color and is formed ...