A step in the right direction :)

Recently I was asked on Twitter: “@BeckyAlves After your experience with Best Buddies & other programs, do you feel Best Buddies helps promote inclusion, understanding, etc?”

I would have just tweeted back, but I think it’s impossible to truly get my ideas across in a 140-character tweet.  So, this brought me back to my blog, which I admit I have been slacking on writing.

Best Buddies has probably been one of the most influential programs in my life and in my old high school. 

I do think it can foster inclusion and understanding towards people with disabilities because it gives people an opportunity to connect with others who they maybe wouldn’t have normally come in contact with. 

This has been my experience for the past 3 years.  For my last 2 years of high school I was involved with our Best Buddies chapter and I was lucky enough to have a new buddy during the second year; this meant that I got to meet 2 new people that went to my high school.  These were people who were segregated into special education classes, and therefore can be pretty restricted to who they are able to socialize with.  Think about it: if you were in a class with only 10 other students, all day everyday, it’d be hard to meet new people outside of your classes.  But Best Buddies gives these students that opportunity, that chance to network with other students who they unfortunately don’t get to meet due to the classroom that they are in.

This year, my first year in university, I have been fortunate enough to get a buddy that I am clicking with very well.  The two of us just met a couple of weeks ago and I can’t wait to see where things will go.  My buddy is a woman who I honestly believe I would never have met if I hadn’t signed up to be a part of Best Buddies through my university; yes, we live close to each other, but I feel like our paths wouldn’t have crossed otherwise.  I can imagine what it would be like to be an adult with a disability; it’s hard enough making friends when you’re going to high school, surrounded by other students, but what happens after high school, when you’re often spending time at home or in a day program, in which the only people around your are those who also have disabilities?  How do you meet new people?  One of the first things I learned about my buddy is that she wants friends and wants to meet people; well now, because of Best Buddies, she’s made a new friend who can hopefully help her network with others as well. 

This is how Best Buddies creates inclusion: it gives people, both those who do and do not have disabilities, the opportunity to meet new people and engage in new social opportunities that they might not normally have.

Does Best Buddies create understanding?  Somewhat.  It can create an understanding of what it’s like to have a disability if you truly get to know your buddy.  It can allow you to really understand what life is like for someone else.

One thing that Best Buddies could improve on is developing the understanding that inclusion is a social justice issue that needs to be addressed and acted upon.  Yes, Best Buddies can create friendships which is great! …But, if some students are in the program for the wrong reasons, then there is a problem.  I think students need to be aware that people with disabilities often aren’t included in regular programming even though they deserve to be.  Best Buddies is a way to potentially “fill the gap” between mainstream and special education, but students need to know that social justice is more than just being nice to people with disabilities. People with disabilities need true, authentic friends – not just buddies that they see every once in a while. 

                      

All in all, I think Best Buddies is a great program and does do good things for the community.  It is a step in the right direction.  An ideal situation though, I think, would be for students with and without disabilities to come together as friends without needing the extra facilitation of a program like Best Buddies.  I feel like that would then be true inclusion.