“My Best Buddies journey began when I was only thirteen. Now, as a rising senior and months away from my 18th birthday, it’s hard to believe how quickly high school and my time with Best Buddies has flown by.

When I first discovered Best Buddies, I had just started 8th grade. Like so many kids during the Covid lockdown, I was bored, restless, and confined to my home. I longed to engage with other neurodivergent people like me, but I had no idea where to start. To be honest, I had not truly accepted my differences yet. As a neurodivergent individual, my personal and academic journey had never been easy, but around this time I was faced with another significant obstacle: I had been diagnosed with a learning disability. Children with disabilities and neurodivergent students experience discrimination based on perception or diagnosis. We are often overlooked in educational settings, if we are educated at all. I have always had a desire for knowledge, but it took time for me to see my differences as assets, rather than weaknesses.

After discovering Best Buddies online, I knew this was the organization I had been searching for. They didn’t care that I was on the autism spectrum or that I had never written anything about myself, let alone a speech. Within a matter of days, I completed my first ambassador training. With the help of a speech coach, I wrote and performed a speech about my struggles growing up a misunderstood kid with autism. From that moment on, I knew I had found a home in Best Buddies.

At the beginning of my freshman year of high school, with the discovery of my learning disability also came my twice exceptional diagnosis. My experience living with autism and learning differences has driven my focus on helping others like me and shaped me into who I am today. Experiencing discrimination firsthand has taught me to advocate for myself and others.

Alchemizing my discomfort into newfound confidence, I completed more intensive training, attended a regional Best Buddies conference where I volunteered as a speech coach, and was invited to become a California State Ambassador. From there, I applied and interviewed for a position on the Best Buddies Youth Leadership Council and served as a writer for their monthly newsletter, sharing my unique perspective as a neurodivergent high school student in hopes of helping other teenagers embrace their differences.

The most satisfying part of my role as an ambassador has been guiding others to self-advocate, giving them the confidence to speak in public and share their unique stories within their communities. Through elevator pitch and ambassador trainings, it has been amazing to see how quickly individuals find their voices in the program. Spending time with these new ambassadors motivated me to want to do more.

At the end of last year, I inquired about joining the Los Angeles Advisory Board as a student advisor. After interviewing with our board president and discussing my passion for Best Buddies, I was invited to join. I hope that through this wonderful group of changemaking individuals, I can reach a broader audience and give others hope and confidence through self-advocacy. My experience living with autism and learning differences has driven my focus and shaped me into who I am today. Playing an active role in transforming how society views young people with disabilities and promoting the importance of inclusion and normalization of neurodiversity in the classroom is the first step to change.

Over the years, Best Buddies has taught me to always be kind to myself and believe I can do anything I set my mind to. As I head into my last year of high school, I would like to continue to grow as a Best Buddies ambassador and spread the mission of Best Buddies to an even wider audience, especially teenagers struggling in middle school and high school who feel their voices do not matter. I believe I can further contribute to this role by dedicating my time to helping young individuals become active agents of change in their communities by promoting self-advocacy and inclusion.”

-Benjamin Haworth, Best Buddies in Orange County