Amrutha Nandam founded the organization Special Needs Special People to foster what she didn’t have growing up: awareness and peer support.
Nandam was bullied in elementary and middle school for the way she walks and talks. “I do those things a bit differently because I have accessibility differences,” she explains. At that early age, the experience shaped her in significant ways. While she had family, teachers and other adults to support her, she felt excluded from peers her own age. “I felt left out,” she says.
It wasn’t until high school that she met classmates who helped her feel proud about being herself. “That really had a strong impact on how I viewed my own accessibility differences,” says Nandam, who is now studying at Carolina. “I want to create the same inclusive environment that I had in high school for children of all abilities.”