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Sydney Meininger Monthly stories

DECEMBER 2018 - ALL ABOUT ME

I’m Sydney Meininger, I was born on September 3, 1999 in Boston Massachusetts, I just turned 19. I am from Bolton, Massachusetts. I am a triplet I have two sisters Averill and Chase.

The intellectual disability I have is a rare medical condition called Cat Eye Syndrome. I have been very tough and brave and have gotten through 25 surgeries. My biggest dream came true I have a friend from the Netherlands who has Cat Eye Syndrome just like me. My Dad posted something on his Facebook page saying that I wanted to meet someone who has the same condition as me. My friend Jorick lives many miles apart but we stay connected together through social media. I never thought that there was anyone out there with Cat Eye Syndrome just like me.

I just graduated in June from Nashoba Regional High School. I am now in a transitions program where I have been going to different job sites and learning lots of new job skills. My favorite job sites are I am a assistant gym teacher at an elementary school. I help out with gym classes. I also like helping out at Bose Kitchen where I do food prep. Next I also help out at Unified Health and Performance a gym for people with all abilities. There I do inventory and stocking on drinks , snack bars I also count the money.

I like doing Unified Track at my school. It makes me feel involved and included on a school sports team. Events that I enjoy doing are 4x400 relay, long jump , javelin and of course running.

I have been playing basketball for a couple of years now. I play on the Central Mass Spartans coached by Brendan Aylward. I am the only girl on my team. Me and my team have won a ton of gold medals.

This fall was my first year playing soccer on a team and I loved it. I played on the Shrewsbury Stingers. We got 1st place in our division at the assessment round games. Then we got 2nd place at the state tournament at Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts.

Besides being involved in Massachusetts Special Olympics I am involved in Best Buddies. This is my buddy Josie we enjoy hanging out together and doing fun things. I got the honor to be the treasurer of my school’s chapter this year. I am the first student with an intellectual disability to have this role. I am very proud to be taking on this role.

I also love public speaking for Special Olympics and Best Buddies. I actually just recently shared my story about why I am involved in Special Olympics and what Inclusion means to me. I spoke at a holiday reception dinner in Boston at the SeaPort Hotel. This picture is of me and my friends Betame and Nick we were all speaking at the Best Buddies Friendship walk.

I went to Camp Howe a camp for kids of all ages with and without disabilities. I went for 4 summers. This is a picture of me with my counselor’s on the last day of my first summer. I am still connected with a lot of my close friends from camp through social media.

I love to travel with my family. One of my favorite vacations we took was going to Toronto , Canada.

On my last day of summer this year I got the opportunity to attend the Massachusetts Special Olympics Boston Bruins partnership event. I got to meet my favorite Boston Bruins player Tuukka Rask.

I love watching sports my favorite sport to watch is basketball. I love collecting basketball shoes. I like to ride my bike, I play video games on my wii and Xbox one. I have had the privilege to stand on every New England sports team ground.

I also play the drums I love singing in the Unified Choir at my school. I enjoy listening to music my favorites are Zac Brown Band, MattyBRaps. I have met MattyBRaps twice I have gone to two of his shows in Massachusetts and then went to a meet and greet afterwards.

I am a leader of inclusion because even though I have an intellectual disability I still have feelings like everybody else. Through such a wonderful organization I have made lots of friendships. One of my close friends in Special Olympics is Betame Debono.

JANUARY 2019 -INCLUSION HEROS

This is one of my inclusion heroes Betame Debono. I have been friends with him since I was a Sophomore in high school.

Last year Betame got me more involved in Special Olympics more than just an athlete. He got me involved in the Youth Activation Council group. We are Unified partners together in the group. He also got me interested in being a Massachusetts Special Olympics Youth Ambassador. So I filled out an application in the fall. Then in November I got selected to be a youth ambassador out of many other different people. Only 2 people in each state get picked.

This past summer we went on our first big trip together. Both of us and our friend we are all Best Buddies Officers for our school. I am the treasurer and Betame is the Vice President and Josie Day is the President. We all got the privilege to attend the Best Buddies leadership conference out in Bloomington, Indiana. The conference was at Indiana University. We met lots of new friends from all over the world. I learned lots of new things and got to learn more about Best Buddies.

This summer we became even closer friends together. On the last day of summer we got the privilege to attend the Official Massachusetts Special Olympics Boston Bruins partnership event.

As part of the big partnership with the Boston Bruins. We got the opportunity to attend the home opener. It was really cool, we had seats up in a sweet.

We were both interviewed before the game about what we thought of the new partnership.

We both participate on the Unified Track team at our school. We ran the 4x400 relay together last year.

We are both very involved in our school’s Best Buddies chapter. We loving speaking and sharing our stories together about Inclusion in both Special Olympics and Best Buddies . I am sad that Betame is graduating from high school this year. I am going to miss him a lot but I know he will do great things in the future. Betame has taught me to not be afraid to try new things.

This is my other inclusion hero Brendan Aylward. I have known Brendan for many years. I have learned a lot of cool things from him. He is a very encouraging person as a coach. He pushes me to try my best and to get better as an athlete. He also owns a gym Unified Health and Performance. I love going to his gym. It is a place where people with all abilities can go and workout and have fun and just be themselves.

Brendan has been my basketball coach for my team the Central Mass Spartans since sixth grade. Me and my team have won lots of gold medals at the winter games tournament in March.

My favorite game Brendan has been doing for 5 years now is the Play For Will charity basketball game. For a student who was sadly killed in a car crash a couple years ago. We play Spartans against the teachers. Every year we always crush the teachers. But it’s all for a good cause.

I am excited to see what the future holds for me in sports. Brendan has taught me to not give up. Don’t worry about the score. Always try your best and have fun.

FEBRUARY 2019 - POP CULTURE

This is the actor August Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) from the movie Wonder.

This actor in the movie wonder shows a big impact on inclusion because he has a facial condition called Treacher Collins Syndrome. He had 27 surgeries before the age of 10 to try and fix his facial deformities.

August is a normal 10 year old boy who loves to play video games, ride his bike, eat ice cream and play ball.

One thing that August doesn’t like about himself is the way he looks. He gets lots of freaky looks and people stare at him because he is different. So the way that August hides the way his face looks is he wears an astronaut helmet all the time.

August starts 5th grade at a mainstream elementary school for the first time ever. His mom always homeschooled him. They felt like he was ready to go to a public school.

August learns in Mr Browne’s English class on the first day of School that that they will be coming up with their own precept every month until the end of the school year. The precept that his teacher came up with for the first month of school was when given the choice between being right or being kind CHOOSE KIND.

August favorite holiday is Halloween. It is his favorite because it is one day out of the whole school year he can basically be normal like everybody else in his grade and not be stared at or be given mean looks. So August dresses up as Bleeding Scream.

August and his friend Jack are partners for the annual 5th grade science fair project. They made a Spud lamp for their project. They got an A for their project. August was very proud to get an A. Even though he maybe different from everyone else in his grade he is still smart. August favorite subject is science.

Every year before the 5th grade graduation August and his entire grade goes on a nature retreat in Pennsylvania. This was August first time away from home without his parents.

At the 5th grade graduation ceremony August receives the Henry Ward Beecher Medal. He was given this special award because throughout the school year he has shown lots of kindness to everyone in the school. This was just his first year of being in a public school. He had the courage to try something new. Just because August has lots of differences from his peers he is still an amazing kind person.

This is one of my favorite actors in this movie that shows Inclusion.

This is Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist) who plays the mains character in the tv series Atypical on Netflix.

Keir makes a big impact on inclusion because it follows his life through his teenage years. It talks about his life as an 18 year old on the autism spectrum.

Sam is obsessed with an Antarctica. So basically whenever he talks about anything or to anyone he tries to relate it to Antarctica.

Sam is interested in being in a relationship with Paige one of his best friends from school.

Sam has a job even though he has a disability he is still able to work and make money. Everyone he works with understands why he likes to talk about Antarctica.

Sam is now trying to figure out what he wants to do after he graduates from high school. No matter if you have any kind of disability you can still have a future and go to college. Sam is planning on applying to an art school in Rhode Island.

One bing thing that Sam doesn’t like at all is sensory overload so he is always wearing black Bose noise canceling headphones out in public.

This is a good show that shows inclusion in what it is like to have Autism.

This is actor Austin and Elena they both have Goldenhar Syndrome.

This show makes a big impact on inclusion because it shows how two teenagers with rare a medical conditions meet for the first time.

Elena lives in Washington state.

Austin lives in Colorado.

Elena flies to Colorado where Austin lives and they spend a whole week together. During the time they bond together the families get to support each other through their struggles.

Elena and Austin have both been bullied because of their Goldenhar Syndrome. (Goldenhar Syndrome is by incomplete development of the ears, nose , soft palate, lip and mandible. They made a video about how they have been bullied and shared it with the National Bullying Prevention Center.

One thing they do together is Austin invited Elena to come to his basketball practice and play with him. It was a great bonding time for both of them. Their parents both loved watching them play together. Elena had never gotten to play basketball with an actual team before.

Austin has had 50 surgeries already . Elena has had 24 surgeries already . During the time Elena and Austin together they fly to Craig Colorado to meet with Austin’s plastic surgeon who is going to be doing his jaw surgery soon. Elena goes with him because he is really nervous and Elena has gone through this surgery before.

After Elena leaves they still stay in touch with each other through social media.

I like this show on inclusion because you can clearly see the impact of just being together for 1 week. Also how much it meant to the parents and Elena and Austin.

MARCH 2019 - RESPECT

My school’s Best Buddies chapter is celebrating Spread The Word To End The Word by we are all designing our own puzzle pieces. After the puzzle pieces are done we are going to be creating one big puzzle. Then we are putting it up on our Best Buddies bulletin board so everyone can see it.

My whole school signs the banner so it will get students to understand why the R word shouldn’t be said.

We have also made sweatshirts with sayings on the back to make students more aware of what Best Buddies is. On the official day of Spread The Word To End The Word we encourage anyone that is in our best buddies chapter to wear any Best Buddies apparel that they have. It is a way to show inclusion in our school.

In 2015 when I was a freshman in high school we made a YouTube video to recognize the month of respect. We had each student in the special education program that is part of our best Buddies chapter hold up a sign that said I am... Then they would fill in the blank with something that we’re like I did (I am .... athletic) We also had some students explain why the R word should never be said NO MATTER WHAT. Nobody should ever say the word.

APRIL 2019 - HEALTH
A place in the community where me and my Special Olympics friends like to go is the gym. The gym we like to go to is Unified Health & Performance. The gym offers a variety of many different kinds of classes from Youth athlete classes, Adaptive athlete classes, Adult athlete classes , high school sessions and collegiate athlete classes.
High School athletes training for sports!
Special Needs athletes !
The gym was opened by Brendan Aylward in July of 2016. He is now the director of the Central Massachusetts Special Olympics Program. He opened an all inclusive gym with the focus of helping athletes with special needs. In 2014 Brendan also became the youngest to coach Team Massachusetts ever for Special Olympics USA Games.
MAY 2019 - FAMILY
June - Inclusive Summer Fun here are some ideas for inclusive activities to do during the summer!
Go see a movie
Go to Apex Center where you can do Bowling, Arcade Games , Bumpers Cars, Trampoline Park, Escape Room , Ropes Course, Go Karting , Sports Simulators.
Go on a tour of an MLB stadium
Volunteer at a local Special Olympics event in your state.
Go see a baseball game
July - Music
My favorite song of the summer is Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band

These are some of my favorite songs that show inclusion.

This video shows MattyB doing a music video with his younger sister Sarah Grace who has Down Syndrome it shows differences and how everyone should be included.

MattyBRaps little sister has been a big inspiration to him and he try’s to include her in many of his videos

This was the first music video that his sister was in.

Ways artists can choose to include are having people with intellectual disabilities in their music videos.

AUGUST 2019 - HISTORY

There has been many major events and movements throughout history. These are some that have really sticked out to me.

The Philadelphia Eagles are the first NFL stadium in history to open a Autism sensory room for kids with autism and their families. It is a way for families to be able to come to a game and get to experience going to see the Eagles play.

The NBA Store is the worlds first sensory inclusive retail store in history. The NBA and KultureCity have teamed up with the NBA Store more accommodating and accessible to guests with sensory sensitives. The store will offer bags with noise cancelling headphones, fidget spinners , weighted lap bands and more to families and individuals who may need them. Also all NBA Store employees have gone through in person and online certified training, led by KultureCity, to learn how to better interact , communicate and help those guests that may need assistance during their shopping experience.

Hopefully there are more stores and stadiums that do things for people with intellectual disabilities

SEPTEMBER 2019 - BACK TO SCHOOL

Some inclusive things that my school does is we have Unified Classes for students with and without intellectual disabilities.

Unified choir where students sing songs in class then we preform 3 different concerts a year. One in the fall , another one in December then one in the spring.
We have students in the high school band.
Unified PE
Unified Health where we learn about different kinds of important health topics.
Unified foods where students make different kinds of foods.
We have a Best Buddies chapter for all High School grades our transitions program. Also a lot of students in the chapter are in a lot of our Unified classes and on the Unified sports teams.
We have a Unified Track team and this fall we are having our first ever season of Unified basketball. We also have Unified bowling.
OCTOBER 2019 - SPORTS
My favorite professional sports team is the Boston Bruins! I like them because they donate toys to patients in Boston hospitals during the holidays! They also go and meet patients at Boston Children’s Hospital throughout the year.
Through the Boston Bruins foundation I got to be the Special Olympics Athlete spotlight of the night!
I even got a customized jersey with my last name on it!
I was even up on the Jumbotron!
I have been a Special Olympics athlete for 8 years. I am on the Massachusetts YAC committee.
I play basketball for the Central Mass Spartans and I am on the Shrewsbury Stingers soccer team, I run and do long jump for unified track at my school. I also play challenger baseball. My school also started Unified basketball this year which is brand new to our school.
NOVEMBER 2019 - TECHNOLOGY

I have hearing loss so hearing aids help me hear better.

My hearing aids
One way I can hear better is I have a compilot that connects to Bluetooth and I talk on the phone and hear it with my hearing aids

This is probably the best technology that can make for people with hearing loss.

DECEMBER 2019 ADVICE TO CLASS 2

Class 2: Being a Youth Ambassador for Special Olympics is something you will not regret getting selected to do for your state. It has truly been a life changing experience for me. I got to meet so many great people at conferences and events that I got to attend. I have been able to stay in touch with so many of the people that I have met. Join your state Youth Activation Council Committees. Get Unified Sports programs started at your school’s Enjoy your opportunities and experiences that you get to have being an ambassador. You get to connect with so many amazing people at the conferences and events that you will get to attend.

JANUARY 2020 - INCLUSION HEROES ROUND 2

This is my hero Elyse Whittmore we met each other through our state Youth Activation Council. We like to travel together to cool places with all of the Special Olympics Youth Ambassador’s. We have done so many cool things. Over the past year we have become closer friends together. Elyse inspires me by she courages me to try new things.
This is my hero and best friend Cassie Dolan we have been friends for seven years now and we have so much fun together all the time. We love going to high school football games together. Cassie inspires me to be myself by I am amazing.
This is my hero Dylan Whalen we are best friends together we were paired as Best Buddies together in the fall of last year. He is someone that is very including to students with intellectual disabilities in our school and in our community. We both like running track. Dylan inspires me to be myself by he courages me to try my hardest each and everyday. Also I’m better at basketball than Dylan just saying.
My hero my best friend Mckenna Hannigan we have known each other since we were in middle school. We have done lots of fun things together over the years. We enjoy watching each other play sports. Mckenna inspires by I am good at sports.
This is my best friend Emily Routhier we have been best friends since 6th grade we have gone on so many fun adventures together. We are always there for each other and we just have so much fun together all the time. Emily inspires me by I am amazing inside and out.
Finally this is Emma Ganley we do YAC together. We have become closer friends each year. We both do Unified Track at our schools. I am the faster runner though. Emma inspires me by I am a great friend to everyone and there are so many unique things about me.
FEBRUARY 2020 - ART
Keith Haring, one of the best-known contemporary artists in the world, created and donated what has become the Best Buddies logo. It incorporates a colorful creation that represents one-to-one affection and acceptance.
Maria Daley has been using art to transform the lives of people with developmental disabilities since she opened her art studio Vincua Arts in Maple Ridge, British Columbia in 2008.

All artists should promote inclusion in their work. Also include people with intellectual disabilities to come and create art.

March 2020 - Courage

I felt proud and courageous to promote inclusion when I was a freshman my school made a spread the word to end the word video to promote inclusion and acceptance in our school. Everyone in the best buddies chapter got to hold I sign that said what they are. I am .... Athletic it was a way for our best buddies chapter to show that everyone in our school is apart of something. No matter the disability or differences a student might have everyone is included.

April 2020 - Fitness

To exercise I play a lot of Special Olympics sports I do soccer in the fall, unified basketball for school and then I also play basketball in the spring I do Unified Track and Field for school, I also play Challenger Little League baseball. Besides playing lots of sports I like going to the gym and working out. I also enjoy riding my bike and scooter.

May 2020 - Community

I am involved in the Massachusetts State Youth Activation Council Committee where we do a lot of planning to put together a Youth Summit for unified sports team schools to come to.
We love to eat yummy snack at our meetings!
I am on the Massachusetts Special Olympics Central Mass Spartans basketball team.
I play soccer for the Shrewsbury Stingers.
I am on the Nashoba Unified Basketball team at my school
I am on the Nashoba Unified Track team. My favorite events to do are long jump and running.
I am involved in the Best Buddies Chapter at my school this is my buddy Dylan, We like to do fun things together. I am also part of my chapters Officer team I am a communication officer.
This is a picture from our team bonding field trip at Boundless Adventures.
I enjoy going to a inclusive gym call Unified Health & Performance that includes people of all abilities to come and work out and have a good time.

June 2020 - Summer Fun ||

I want to learn how to play bocce!

Something that I have learned from Special Olympics that help me try new things Is the Let me Win, Let me be brave in the attempt The Special Olympics Athletes oath it has taught me to always try new things!

July 2020 - Superheroes

A superhero I can relate myself to is Captain America, he is a leader of the Avengers, I am a great leader to others in Special Olympics. Something that makes me a great superhero who is ready to change the world is I am passionate about sharing my story about how I got involved in Special Olympics and why the Special Olympics organization is so important to me.

August 2020 - Justice

Tim Shriver, is a American disability rights activist.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver empowered people with intellectual disabilities to have the rights, to access, Inclusion and social justice like everyone else.

Credits:

Created with images by Tomasz_Mikolajczyk - "tv antique monument" • Jesper Aggergaard - "untitled image" • PublicDomainPictures - "backdrop block brick"

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