Written by Erika Pumilia:

L.E.A.A.D stands for Learning and Educating About Autism Diversity for
teens! My story behind L.E.A.A.D stems from an interest I developed when I
was 10 years old. It was in the summer and I was a volunteer at the Children's Annex
for the very first time. I was so nervous and had never heard of
autism before and was so ignorant to that fact that it was out there.

When I got into the class I met a young girl who was about my age and she was
just so much like me. She was a very sweet girl who really looked up to me
and made me feel like I was at the annex that summer for a reason. I have
gone to the annex EVERY summer since.

When I was in middle school I began to do actual research about autism and was just so touched by these astounding individuals. Right then I realized I wanted to teach. My
teaching career can obviously not start until I graduate collage, but when I got to KHS I realized that my generation doesn't know what autism is and the statistics then were 1 in 166 and were just changing. I needed to do something, be a voice for those who need it and so L.E.A.A.D for teens was born!

The ultimate purpose of L.E.A.A.D is to educate the "neuro-typical" population of Kingston High School about peers with disabilities. Our main focus is autism, however because Kingston High School has a separate building for the "special ed" students (not my words) we are not allowed to know who has autism and who doesn't. That really isn't important to us however. Every 2 weeks or so we stay after school with these students and just hang out with them and talk, do crafts, play games etc. It is really a way for us to show the rest of the school that it doesn't hurt to show a little compassion and maybe a friendship that will touch someone in ways beyond what you can imagine.

The difference with us and other mentoring groups is that we do it because we want to do it. Our friendships are genuine. We have dances with them, prepare for Kingston High School's winter carnival, and have the opportunity to just be teenagers in this generation.