Chapter 6: Autism and Self-Advocacy
The next day, I met up with some of my other friends Alex Russo, Justin Evans, Max Greenwald, Carly Shay, and Spencer Puckett, as well as Carly's stepdad, Freddie Benson. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Alex greeted back. We also did 2 different versions of Childhood Chat before and after the meeting. While jamming out to NSYNC before the meeting, we found out about Julia Robison using her new fuzzy pillow in 2nd grade in downtown Pittsburgh, Elizabeth Mosh taking a selfie of herself in 9th grade in East Liberty, Kaitlyn and Colleen Marioni watching a scary movie together in 4th grade in the North Side, Lauren Bennett listening to music in 4th grade in Oakland, Nicole Ellis sleeping in total darkness just last year in Shadyside, and Emily Grey telling a ghost story in the South Side. We even baked personalized cupcakes for us to eat as snacks. "Wasn't that a great Childhood Chat this morning, guys?" Carly asked. "It looks like we have even bigger problems to deal with than Childhood Chat right now," Alex told all of us. "Why is that?" I asked. "I am trying to get a petition signed for autism and advocacy," Alex explained. "I think that self-advocacy is a good thing if you ask me," Carly stated. "In my final year of middle school, I learned just how important it is to self-advocate." "That is an important skill that we have learned in all of our lives, Carly," Spencer agreed. "I remember teaching you that rule of thumb, as well," Mr. Benson agreed. "I need self-advocacy as an important skill to stand up for myself and get people to understand me better, just like I did at a Sweet 16 party once," Alex emphasized. "Not just at parties, but at any time of year, is an important time to practice self-advocacy," Justin agreed. "If you self-advocate, your life becomes a whole lot easier," Max pointed out. "So, go online to and sign my petition, and we can easily take advantage of our right to self-advocate!" Alex exclaimed. After a brief trip to the South Side to hear Emily's ghost story, and while jamming out to 98 Degrees after the meeting, we found out about Jennifer Preager doing different activities in the spring and summer of 2013 at 10 years old in the city of Pittsburgh, Kayla Jennis doing different activities in the spring and summer of 2014 at 12 years old in the western suburbs, Brooke Leesaw doing different activities in the spring and summer of 2015 at 17 years old in the northern suburbs, Jessica Linden doing different activities in the spring and summer of 2016 at 15 years old in the southern suburbs, and Sophia Cleng doing different activities in the spring and summer of 2019 at 12 years old in the eastern suburbs. After our extraordinarily great Childhood Chat, it was time for all of us to go home. "Thanks for a great day, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Alex replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"