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VT Teen Serves on National Board

Fifteen-year-old Samantha Henault, or “Sam” as she is referred to by many who know her, is from Island Pond, and she is most definitely not your typical teenager.  For the past year and a half, Sam has served on the national advisory board for Kids As Self Advocates (KASA) and is its youngest member. In her role as board member, Sam organizes projects, participates in conference calls, and flies to different cities to attend board meetings. In addition to her advisory board activities and attending high school, Sam is on the North Country Union High School Junior Varsity basketball team, and an AAU basketball team.

Sam has also been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. She describes everyday classroom expectations and homework assignments as exhausting challenges. “Many of my teachers have no idea what it’s like living with a disability,” she says. “I think they look at me and see a slacker, not a kid who’s working 100% harder than everyone else just to stay focused.”

“I feel like I can do it, because my grandparents keep pushing me to go for what I want. And I know they do that because they believe in me,” Sam says.

Her grandmother adds emphatically, “All my life I’ve believed that given the right supports, anyone can do anything. It sounds naïve, but I believe it’s true. Look how far we’ve come already!”

The advisory board that Sam serves on is a national, grassroots network of youth with disabilities. Sam describes KASA’s work in this way: “We are an organization that seeks to improve laws around persons with disabilities and we help others be advocates and speak for themselves.” As part of her commitment to KASA, this year Sam organized a project around how people can speak out on health issues.

Sam says that being on the advisory board has benefited her “I now speak up at meetings wherever I go, even in school. Before I would just sit there and not say things I wanted to say.”

Sam would like to see people be more open-minded about disabilities. And in her role as a spokesperson for youth with disabilities, she has this to say to other youth with disabilities, “Don’t let people intimidate you! Be heard!”

Thank you to Cal Workman, who volunteered to research and contribute to this article.