Eighteen year old Alexis Wineman wants to become the next Miss America. She is the currently reigning Miss Montana, pretty, and has an autism spectrum disorder. If she wins the crown, she will be the very first Miss America who has autism. That is her quest.
When you think about the Miss America pageant, you are either looking forward to watching it or are intending to avoid it. Beauty pageants, in general, are something that can be viewed as controversial.
On the one hand, it is a contest that is primarily about the physical appearance of the contestants (all of whom are female). On the other hand, the winner of the pageant (and some contestants) will receive a scholarship to help further their education.
This year, there is a very good reason to watch the Miss America pageant. One of the contestants, Alexis Wineman, is competing. Her goal is to become the first Miss America with autism. Doing so would not only be a historical moment within the Miss America pageant, but could open up people’s eyes about what people who have autism can achieve.
Alexis is 18 years old. She has been spending the past six months doing things that many of the rest of the young women who are competing in the pageant were doing: practicing interviewing skills, perfecting her comedy routine, and learning how to walk while wearing high heels.
Alexis is currently the reigning Miss Montana. She was diagnosed with autism when she was 11 years old. When she was in high school, she worked to overcome the challenges that are associated with this developmental disorder. She became a cheerleader, participated in theater, and listened to music on her iPod to help her cope.
For the past six months, she has been traveling across Montana and speaking to about 6,000 students about autism awareness. Her platform for the pageant is “Normal is Just a Dryer Setting, Living with Autism”. Want to help Alexis Wineman achieve her goal of becoming the first Miss America with autism? You can vote for your favorite contestant at the 2013 Miss America competition website.
It will be interesting to see how she does in the pageant. We are starting to see a little bit more acceptance of young people who have an autism spectrum disorder (or other special needs). In the past few years, there have been many high school homecoming queens or homecoming kings who had Down Syndrome. Why not a Miss America who has autism?
Image by Jennifer Donley on Flickr