First Former Buddy Club President

[Image Description: The graphic is a collage of the Ecuador, Spain, and Mexico flags at the top and the Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Portugal flags at the bottom. "National Hispanic Heritage Month" is in center-aligned enlarged bold black text. "18 Notable Hispanic/Latinx People in the Disability Community from History" is in center-aligned bold black text below it. ] DISCLAIMER: All of the below photos are from Google Images. I do not take ownership for any of them. September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month. I proudly identify as a disabled white Hispanic woman who stutters with Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS). Every year I honor observance days in honor of diverse groups by making time to make space for conversations and lived experiences that too often go unheard. Every year I hope that you hold the following key takeaways close: Disability is not separate from culture. Every disability journey is differen...

[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 bright orange hardcover of the children's book titled "HORTON HEARS A WHO!" written by Dr. Seuss is pictured with the title displayed in center-aligned diagonal white text at the top and the author's name in center-aligned white text in the bottom right corner. Horton is displayed as a cartoon white elephant with large ears, small eyes, and a long trunk. The book is laying on a wooden light brown desk. ]     During January to April of 2024, I was assigned to be a student teacher in a first grade classroom of twenty-two students in a Catholic school in Fox Chase, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On March 1, 2024, I read Horton Hears a Who to my students in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday coming up. I told my mentor teacher that I performed in Seussical the Musical in high school, and she thought that that was so cool. She asked me if I had any pictures that ...

                                  [Image Description: The book called "Thank You, Mr. Falker" written by Patricia Polacco is laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt. "PATRICIA POLACCO" is in center-aligned black text at the top of the book cover. "Thank You, Mr. Falker" is in left-aligned maroon text under "PATRICIA POLACCO." At the bottom of the page, there is a big picture of Trisha (left) wearing a dress and sitting at a table looking at the inside of a book with Mr. Falker (right) standing next to her and wearing a green jacket and red collar and smiling with his fingers on his chin. There are hands of another child holding a book and pointing to the bottom pages in the bottom right corner of the book cover. The rest of the background of the book cover is white. ] I am uploading this blog post in honor of Patricia Polacco's 80th Birthday being today!  🥳❤️🎂🎁🪅🎉🎊🎈  Patri...

[Image Description:  There are twenty-two children's books laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt on a bed with white and dark pink plaid blankets and white sheets with small purple flowers under the quilt. Part of a white bureau is pictured in the top left corner of the image. The books are laying in four and a quarter horizontal rows in the following order from left to right: "A Room For Us All: A Neuroinclusive Story", "Who Will Read to Me?", "My Brother Charlie", "Thank You Mr. Falker", "All Are Welcome", "Thank You Helpers", "My Monster and Me", "My Friend Has Down Syndrome", "Sesame Street: Family Forever: A Julia Storybook", the original edition of "The Little Engine That Could" book, the updated edition of "The Little Engine That Could" book, "Wonder", "Auggie & Me: Three Little Wonder Stories", "365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne...