Auction Highlights Best of Peer Buddies

Parents of Special Children, Inc raised 345 dollars with a silent art auction held in June at La Riviera.

Parents of Special Children, Inc is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization serving the special needs community and the Special Education Parent Advisory Group, or SEPAG, in the Matawan-Aberdeen regional school district.

According to Laura Porter, one of the two mothers who started Parents of Special Children, Inc, the auctioned artwork is particularly special because each piece was created by typical students and disabled, or non-typical, students working together as peer buddies during Personal Best Week.

Each May, the NJ School Board Association has a Special Education Week, which the district renamed Personal Best Week. During this time, typical and non-typical students work on collaborative art and writing projects to celebrate the personal best of every student and also enhance socialization and team work skills.

In the past, all of the artwork was put on display in the Aberdeen Township Municipal building and the Matawan Municipal Community Center.

"The staff members of the Aberdeen town building kept saying, 'This is really great, this is really great. You guys should do an art show from Personal Best Week,'" Porter said.

Anissa Esposito, who started PoSP, Inc with Porter, donated canvases to each elementary school and the middle school and a child-sized picnic bench to Cambridge Park School. The Peer Buddies were tasked with creating pieces that reflected the theme of Personal Best Week, which is friendship, a never give up attitude and inclusion.

One painting, created by the students of the Mild Cognitively Impaired class and four third grade volunteer peer buddies, shows two stick figures dancing together in a blur of colors and puzzle pieces.

"Through peer buddies they have laughed, played and had fun while realizing their worlds are not so different after all," read a sign next to the painting.

The money raised at the auction will be used to help fund a two-week program that teaches disabled children how to ride a bike with an eighty percent success rate.

Some money will also be used to help fund the Husky Special Olympics team and to cover costs of speakers on topics like learning how to advocate for your child, understanding your child's disability and how to effectively discipline your child so they learn good behavior.

Parents of Special Children, Inc began as a parent's group with the efforts of Porter and Esposito. Now, eight years later, it has grown into a charitable organization and a valuable resource to parents.

"It's all parent run. Everybody involved in the group has a child with a classified disability in the Matawan-Aberdeen school district or by a doctor, even if they don't qualify for services, or suspect their child has a disability. That includes health issues like severe diabetes, brain injury, epilepsy or anything," Porter said.

According to Porter, the most important step parents can take when they discover their child has a disability is becoming educated on how to advocate for their child.

"You are the expert in your kid and you have to advocate for yourself," Porter said. "You are the driver of the special ed bus. Sometimes you have to pull over and look at a map and ask for directions, but then you get back on the road."

Parents of Special Children, Inc meets twice a month and hosts regular events. If you would like to get involved with or donate to Parents of Special Children, Inc please email Laura Porter at pospmatab@aol.com.