{"id":184644,"date":"2024-11-07T11:59:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T16:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=184644"},"modified":"2024-11-12T13:53:09","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T18:53:09","slug":"meet-joshua-felder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/family-support\/the-possibilities\/","title":{"rendered":"The Possibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\n

The Possibilities<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Joshua Felder<\/strong>” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:20px|text_align:left|line_height:22px” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Best Buddies Global Ambassador” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:20px|text_align:left|line_height:22px” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1730998504568{margin-top: -10px !important;}”][vc_separator color=”custom” align=”align_left” border_width=”8″ accent_color=”#59cbe8″][vc_column_text css=””]\n

\"\"Joshua Felder<\/strong> was born in Tampa, FL. In 2017, he completed a 2-year Career Exploration Program at the University of South Florida. He is also a Global Ambassador and International Board of Directors member for Best Buddies International.<\/p>\n

During his time with Best Buddies International, Joshua has personally given endorsement speeches at Best Buddies events throughout the United States, co-hosted Friendship Walks, and danced on stage with celebrities – all while furthering the mission of inclusion. In 2020, Joshua received the Best Buddies Spirit of Courage Award. He was also awarded the inaugural Excellence in Leadership Award at the 5th Annual Best Buddies’ Mother’s Day Brunch.<\/p>\n

Joshua is also the first person with a disability to be a dancer in the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show with The Weeknd and the first to be featured in a Showtime Original with The Weeknd, which outlined the making of the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show. Joshua’s performance in the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show resulted in him receiving commendations from the City of Tampa Mayor and City Council. Additionally, Joshua was featured on Bay News 9 and CBS This Morning with Gayle King.<\/p>\n

In 2023, he was cast in the Woody Harrelson movie Champions and promoted it on shows like The Drew Barrymore Show and the Today Show. Most recently, in 2024, he had the honor of performing the \u201cPuck Drop\u201d at the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Neurodiversity Night.<\/p>\n

Joshua\u2019s brand, \u201cInclusion is the new Swag,\u201d shows his belief that there are no limits to what people with IDD can achieve.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”184683″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”184682″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text css=”” el_class=”.family-quote”]\n

I\u2019m Joshua Felder and I am showing the world that my Disability is actually my \u2018Superpower\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Joshua Felder<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\n

A Caregiver\u2019s Perspective<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”” el_id=”story2″]\n

A Parent\u2019s Story<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Michelle Aventajado<\/strong>” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:20px|text_align:left|line_height:22px” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Best Buddies Staff Member” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:20px|text_align:left|line_height:22px” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1708619101082{margin-top: -10px !important;}”][vc_separator color=”custom” align=”align_left” border_width=”8″ accent_color=”#59cbe8″][vc_column_text]\"TheNo one wants to feel alone.<\/strong> Even if I understood what Down Syndrome was because I was a teacher and taught in inclusive classrooms, when the neonatologist gave me a birth diagnosis of Trisomy 21, I felt the full gamut of emotions that comes along with the understanding that my parenthood journey was forever going to be different. My husband Nino and I looked to each other for comfort, but we also knew we had no idea how to move forward except through our faith. We prayed for Evangelina\u2019s (Gelli) successful surgery that she would have to undergo within hours of her birth, for strength, and for a community that would welcome us and guide us on this new path.<\/p>\n

Finding other parents of kids who had Down syndrome suddenly put things into perspective for us.
\nWe looked to parents with older kids to see how their kids were growing, what we could expect as new parents ourselves, and, most of all, for encouragement.<\/p>\n

We wanted the reassurance of someone who had \u2018been there, done that,\u2019 even if our experiences weren\u2019t exactly the same, and we wanted to relate to other parents who understood where we were, without much explanation or need for words.<\/p>\n

Gelli gave us membership to a special kind of club. She opened up our world to people whom we never would have met, and because of her, we found parents of kids just like her, which was comforting, reassuring, and safe.<\/p>\n

Gelli\u2019s arrival has brought many positive adventures into our lives. I now lead Best Buddies Philippines<\/a> and am happy to be part of an organization that continues to support and empower the IDD community throughout different life stages.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet Joshua Felder, a Global Ambassador and International Board of Directors member for Best Buddies International. He is also the first person with a disability to be a dancer in the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show with The Weeknd and the first to be featured in a Showtime Original. He stars in Woody Harrelson movie Champions and has appeared in The Drew Barrimore Show and the Today Show…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":184645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4690],"tags":[1750,4675,89,1678,4673],"class_list":["post-184644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-support","tag-best-buddies-global-ambassador","tag-family-support","tag-idd","tag-intellectual-and-developmental-disabilities","tag-joshua-felder"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Possibilities - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/family-support\/the-possibilities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Possibilities - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet Joshua Felder, a Global Ambassador and International Board of Directors member for Best Buddies International. 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