The document tells the story of Andrew Ackner and his experience with the Friendship Circle organization. It describes how Andrew was diagnosed with autism at age 9 and struggled socially and behaviorally from a young age. The Friendship Circle matched him with teenage volunteers to be his friend, which had a profoundly positive impact on him. As he and the organization both grew, Andrew became a volunteer himself. He has since grown up to live independently while pursuing his interests and career. The Friendship Circle helped keep alive his parents' dreams for him, showing that with the right support systems, one's future is not limited by challenges at birth.

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Andrew Ackner
A man and a woman decide to start a family. They get married and
shortly after a baby is on the way. Then they dream. They dream about
everything under the sun, about what their baby will be and what their
baby will become. They dream of him doing very well in school, being
athletic, having a successful career, having a lot of friends, breaking girls
hearts (Well that part's mostly the father's dream.) and eventually finding
love and settling down.
But after awhile, they realize that the baby is not what they were
expecting, and that those dreams may not be what really happens. This
experience is an experience many parents have, and I understand it very
well because it was an experience my parents had.
When I was four years old I was having major problems, socially,
behaviorally, I couldn't sit still or focus. I wouldn't be diagnosed with
Autism until I was nine. My mother struggled very hard to find services
for a child with my needs and such services were very scarce.
Then she heard about Bassie, and Levi, and a new organization
called the Friendship Circle, that had teenage volunteers be friends for
children with special needs who didn't have the social skills to make
friends. I was one of the first children to benefit from this service. As a
four year old who was not good at making friends, it was the best feeling
in the World to have someone to play with, who wanted to play with me,
and thought I was special, in a non condescending way, different from the

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Andrew Ackner
way a lot of people tend to throw that word around. That is the miracle
this organization is most known for, but in my opinion, is the tip of the
iceberg of the miracles that this great organization can do for a child who
is born different from the other children.
Countless children with special needs have had a better and
happier life because of the programs of the Friendship Circle, because it
gives them time to play, time to feel good about themselves, time to feel
special, and know that the person they are playing with loves them
unconditionally. But what about the dreams the parents had before the
baby was born, do they need to go away or be changed because of the
child's special needs? I think not, and as a wise man named Theodore
Hertzl once said "if you will it is no dream." And for me that was the
greater miracle of Friendship Circle.
I feel a great connection with The Friendship Circle because it is an
organization that I have grown up alongside with. We met up when I was
four and we were both struggling. I was struggling because of my special
needs, and The Friendship Circle was struggling because it was a brand
new charitable organization being built from scratch. We both had a pair
of committed parents working hard to make sure we had what we needed
to survive and do good things in the World.
For many years we would play together, and were great friends
who supported one another, even though we both were struggling to get

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Andrew Ackner
through our own uncertain times. In 2004, I was in the 8th Grade, and
after a traumatic, period with several hospitalizations, and me suffering a
lot of mistreatment from my school during the seventh grade, I don't even
know how exactly it happened but I do know it wouldn't have happened
without the support from Friendship Circle and the volunteers who gave
me confidence. But I began growing, and my life was starting to kick in,
my difficulties as an Autistic person were still there but I was now at a
point where I could start improving.
My life turned around in 2004. And in the same year, Life Town
was built, my buddy, the Friendship Circle was also turning around and
becoming the thriving organization it is today. I also began volunteering.
The relationship had gone full-circle. I used to be the child with special
needs, who had a volunteer, and was now volunteering for the children
with special needs.
Friendship Circle is all grown up now, it is an international
organization that helps bring the miracle of Friendship to children across
the World. That is the well-known miracle of Friendship Circle. And now
I, too, have grown up. I am 24 years old, I'm a creative writing student at
Oakland University. I live independently, in an apartment with my fiancé,
working for a living, and doing stand up comedy (Audience broke out in
applause at this point) And I also do guest speaking on Autism. And I
have a very active social life because of the social skills I learned with my

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Andrew Ackner
volunteers who believed in me to overcome the difficulties I was born
with.
Like that wise man I quoted earlier said "If you will it, is no dream."
And that is the even greater miracle of Friendship Circle, because it can
keep the dreams alive, that most parents, upon hearing certain news begin
to doubt them coming true. As long as you have friends to grow up with
you, it doesn't matter what you were born with, your friends will help you
pick yourself up and any future you want can happen.