Local organization to host summer social events for people with diverse needs

Dominique Gillespie's passion for working in the special needs community started with her nephew who was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old. 

“We grew very close together,” Gillespie, an Exceptional Children's teacher in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School district, said. “That is my person. He will always be my person.”

Her nephew is 17 now, and Gillespie said she's seen a lack of opportunities for him to interact with other children his age with diverse needs. 

“There aren't many places to take him out in the community that are inclusive, or are as accepting of his behavior. … Behaviors happen. I'm familiar with it. I'm used to it. But it really hurts when you have people that stare,” Gillespie said. 

To change that, Gillespie and Keshira Cobb, a graduate student studying occupational therapy, created the non-profit organization Bee Social last year with the goal of providing a safe, judgment-free environment for people with diverse needs. 

This summer, Bee Social is hosting four social events where teens and young adults can dance, listen to music, play games like Connect Four and soccer, make crafts, eat dinner and watch movies.

“We saw the need for that age group, so that's why we jumped in and created Bee Social,” Cobb said. “We wanted more of a social environment for those friends to come out … where they don't really stand out.” 

Gillespie said those social interactions for people with diverse needs were especially limited over the past couple of years due to the pandemic. As public spaces have opened back up, she said it's important to provide spaces for these individuals too. 

“They need to be able to socialize together and engage in that back and forth communication,” Gillespie said. “Socialization. Everyone needs it. When you don't talk to people or when you stay in the house, how does that make you feel?”

There are five individuals who have attended the Bee Social events consistently. Some of them are just starting to open up and communicate more, while others have begun forging close friendships. 

“They can be like, ‘OK, I do have a friend that's like me, that I can communicate without him judging me' or ‘I can be myself around them,'” Cobb said. 

But Gillespie said she hopes individuals who identify as neurotypical will attend the events as well to gain a better understanding of people in the community with diverse needs. 

“Just being familiar with these types of friends, being around them, learning things about them, so that we can grow to accept them,” she said. “Because they're people too. They have feelings. They are just as here and present as we are, so we should treat them as such.”

Bee Social will be hosting its summer events on June 11, June 25, July 16 and July 23, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. More information about the program is available on their Facebook page.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.