Blog 10: The Project Ends, But My Journey Won't

Hi everyone! Ten weeks seems to have gone by very quickly! 

I started working on my final paper this week, and even as I continued writing, I had to cut down some topics that I just didn’t have to write about. I really wanted to include so much more in my paper but the time restraints really made me cut down a lot of what I wanted to say, which was a bit saddening and frustrating. Writing the paper that was a culmination of all my research, volunteering, and thoughts is quite a lot. A lot of the time, I couldn’t find the words to express all my feelings and I definitely feel like I repeated a lot of phrases. 

However, as the senior project comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on everything, and it seems we as a society have a lot to do. Even if it seems we move in a positive direction for autism, for neurodiversity, sometimes politics makes us take many giant steps back, making our hard work seem so… worthless? It is important that we continue to aid our peers that experience hardships navigating our society, and to continue supporting advocates and self-advocates alike. There is always more we can do to support, so let us take the time to understand, educate ourselves and the people around us, so that we can continue moving forward again. 

I spent my last week of volunteering like any other week, and I must admit, I will miss working with these batch of students. I remember my first few weeks were filled with confusion and uncertainty as I wasn’t sure if what I was doing would actually support the students. I learned a lot by watching teachers work with the students, but I’ve also learned so much by working with the students as well. Ten weeks with the students allowed me to get to know each of them and I’ve watched several of them overcome their comfort to try something new.

Volunteering was really always the highlight of my day, even if the day was difficult! My favorite moments will always be when any of the kids are smiling, when they are proud of themselves, and when they reach little milestones. Their road in this neurotypical society may not be easy, but I can only hope that in their future, there will be kind people that are willing to help navigate through the barriers that society may have in store for them.

I’m extremely thankful to all the teachers and students that have guided me on this learning journey, and it can be rest assured that this journey will not be ending like this project is.

Thank you for reading my blogs until the end, and as always, thank you for reading!