{"id":174098,"date":"2023-08-16T09:15:39","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T13:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=174098"},"modified":"2023-08-16T13:49:33","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T17:49:33","slug":"inspiring-young-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Young Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;174099&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_column_text]As a neurodivergent person with Autism who is also considered 2e or twice exceptional, my social and academic journey has not been easy. From kindergarten up until high school enrollment, I had always struggled with and tried to hide my diagnosis. Like so many young people during the pandemic, I searched online for an organization that I could connect with and longed to find others that understood me. That\u2019s when I found Best Buddies. Over a three-day process, I was matched with a coach to write and present a speech about myself. After my presentation I knew I had found a place where it was more than just okay to be different, it was embraced. Once I completed a series of trainings I began my role as an Ambassador, a position that promotes and helps educate others about the philosophy, mission, and benefits of Best Buddies through public speaking.<\/p>\n<p>When I began my freshman year in high school with a newly identified learning disability, I did not realize the importance of self-advocacy or inclusion when it came to my education. Around the same time that year, I became a Best Buddies California State Ambassador after completing another series of trainings. As part of my Ambassador role, I lead trainings for future Ambassadors on how to advocate for diversity and inclusion in their communities, schools, and workplaces. Meanwhile at school, I had been given testing accommodations to support my learning differences, but this would require me to leave the classroom for every test or quiz. The last thing I wanted was to stand out when all I wanted to do was blend in. Despite all I\u2019d learned as a Best Buddies Ambassador, I still struggled with advocating for myself. I chose to pretend that I was just like my peers, oftentimes struggling in class, until it all became too much for me and I realized I needed help. Had it not been for Best Buddies, I might never have discovered that self-advocacy in education is crucial to achieving academic success.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I am open about my learning disabilities at school so teachers can help future students. Within my role with Best Buddies YLC, I write monthly newsletters focusing on neurodiversity, education, and inclusion from my perspective as a neurodivergent high school student. In just a few weeks I will be a rising junior. While this year will not be easy socially or academically, Best Buddies has taught me to self-advocate, not be afraid to take risks, and believe in myself no matter the challenge.<\/p>\n<p>-Benjamin Haworth, Best Buddies State Ambassador<\/p>\n<p>Best Buddies Ambassadors is a program that provides training for participants with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities in areas of speech writing, public speaking, and self-advocacy. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/what-we-do\/leadership-development\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to learn about attending and hosting Ambassadors trainings<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;20px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Best Buddies taught me to believe in myself no matter what.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2080,"featured_media":174099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"ca-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[574],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Inspiring Young Leaders - 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\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inspiring Young Leaders - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Best Buddies taught me to believe in myself no matter what.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-16T13:15:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-16T17:49:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"leemosler\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e016e3c8c2cd3b7e04adf72b23efb560\"},\"headline\":\"Inspiring Young Leaders\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-16T13:15:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-16T17:49:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/\"},\"wordCount\":504,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Massachusetts News\"],\"articleSection\":[\"California News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/\",\"name\":\"Inspiring Young Leaders - Best Buddies International\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-16T13:15:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-16T17:49:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Ben's Corner\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inspiring Young Leaders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/\",\"name\":\"Best Buddies International\",\"description\":\"Best Buddies is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Best Buddies International\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png\",\"width\":115,\"height\":113,\"caption\":\"Best Buddies International\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e016e3c8c2cd3b7e04adf72b23efb560\",\"name\":\"leemosler\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/author\/leemosler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inspiring Young Leaders - Best Buddies International","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inspiring Young Leaders - Best Buddies International","og_description":"Best Buddies taught me to believe in myself no matter what.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/","og_site_name":"Best Buddies International","article_published_time":"2023-08-16T13:15:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-16T17:49:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"leemosler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"leemosler","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/"},"author":{"name":"leemosler","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e016e3c8c2cd3b7e04adf72b23efb560"},"headline":"Inspiring Young Leaders","datePublished":"2023-08-16T13:15:39+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-16T17:49:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/"},"wordCount":504,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp","keywords":["Massachusetts News"],"articleSection":["California News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/","name":"Inspiring Young Leaders - Best Buddies International","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp","datePublished":"2023-08-16T13:15:39+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-16T17:49:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-BBCA-Bens-Corner.webp","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Ben's Corner"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/inspiring-young-leaders\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inspiring Young Leaders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/","name":"Best Buddies International","description":"Best Buddies is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization","name":"Best Buddies International","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/best-buddies-logo2.png","width":115,"height":113,"caption":"Best Buddies International"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e016e3c8c2cd3b7e04adf72b23efb560","name":"leemosler","url":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/author\/leemosler\/"}]}},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-08-23 09:11:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174098"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2080"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174098"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174101,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174098\/revisions\/174101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}