Over several years of being involved in Best Buddies, I learned about many kinds of disabilities. I have also learned how intelligent and personable these kids are, and often think about how nice it would be to have them in regular classrooms where everyone can get to know them better. People that are not involved in Best Buddies could really be missing out on interactions and possible friendships beyond their own groups. Even if it were a part time basis to begin with it would enrich the learning process for them just by interacting outside their own special needs group.

I think if more students got to know them better by sharing a classroom with them they would see how much they had to offer to the overall learning experience. It would be a shame to assume that they didn’t have anything new to add or help think out a problem. We don’t how to plan this introduction but it shouldn’t be difficult to do on a small scale, initially. It’s not like this idea has not been tried before,  I would just like to see it expanded so it becomes more inclusive  to the general student population. Some of the Best Buddies would like to be in classrooms and others might be a little bit nervous, but it would be on a volunteer basis with no pressure.