Best Buddies

Best Buddies is an organization where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are paired up with peer to make one on one friendships in various ways and at various ages. This is a very unique organization where people get matched to another person with similar interests and depending on what program they are in they talk to and hang out with their match.

The programs are in middle schools, high schools, colleges and now after college even. The different programs are all similar in how much it impacts both of the people in the match. These friendships made in Best Buddies can be life long friendships that are some of the best friendships a person ever has.

The middle school and high school programs are very similar both match peers up that are in the schools one in a general education class the other in a special education class. They do activities together planned by the leaders in the school and sometimes outside of the activities planned by the school. The buddies have a lot of fun at these activities and the leaders try to plan the activities so that everyone has a good time. The matches are done so that people have very similar interest and can get a long very well and do many activities together.

College and after college buddy matches are different because they are not in school together anymore so they can not go to the planned activities and see each other in the hallway. After high school they need to make time to go see their buddy and make time to go talk to them. They also get to have more of a real friendship because they get to communicate with them more freely, have a better bond because they get to actually decide what to do with them and they get to go out in the community more to do the activities to get the buddy even more friends.

There is another type of match called E-Buddies where they email back and forth. This way people do not have to live in the same area to be friends and if they do not have a Best Buddies program at their school they will still be able to make new friends.