A local disability advocate visited students at DeWitt Middle School Wednesday with one simple but powerful message: celebrate your differences.
- Disability advocate Jonah Berger visited DeWitt Middle School to encourage students to celebrate their differences.
- Berger, who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, shared how he learned to embrace his own challenges.
- School leaders said the presentation empowered students to open up about their own unique traits.
WATCH: Disability advocate shares message of inclusion at DeWitt Middle School
Jonah Berger speaks to audiences across the country, but this time he brought his story right to his neighborhood.
"My message for these students is the celebration of difference," Berger said.
Berger founded his organization The Rhythm Within in 2003.
"Snap out of trying to be the same and embrace that no one is the same," Berger said while addressing students.
Berger lives with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a hereditary condition that affects the nerves in his hands and feet.
"It took me a long time to accept my CMT. Once I started to accept it then I started to see the gifts hidden in the challenge," Berger said.
"I feel like this thing teaches me a lot, and now thank goodness I get to be a teacher as well and get up in front of people and kids and teach what I’m learning," Berger said.
Assistant Principal Mike Garrod said students responded by opening up about what makes them unique.
"Anything from eczema, to being double jointed to being autistic. It was really impactful and powerful," Garrod said.
Berger said sharing his story in his own community makes it even more meaningful, both for the students and himself.
"Every time I speak to another school, that’s a group of kids who will not only know the message but, it also makes me feel more comfortable in my own town walking around that there’s more and more people with time that understand," Berger said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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