Sara Wolff

YOU BE THE JUDGE

Sara Wolff: I like coming up with different topics for them to talk about on the show. I've been on the show a few times before, for the Buddy Walk that I did in 2001. I was in high school when I did the Buddy Walk, and then I was in the show again for something else, so he asks me a lot sometimes to go on the show about certain things. There's no script, you just go with the flow. He asks you questions and stuff, I'm really good at adlibbing, so. I was on it recently for the ABLE Act, I was trying to get past this year, the ABLE Act means Achieving a Better Life Experience Act. I did a lot of research on that, and trying to get people to be co-sponsors to get it passed this year, and I was on the show for that. 

Nicki Pombier: Is that a topic that you suggested to him?

Sara: Yes, yes.

Nicki: How did you suggest it?

Sara: Oh gosh, it was a while back, last year actually that I did this. It was pretty cool.

Nicki: So how did you present it to him as like an idea that he should have on his show?

Sara: I gave it to him, and his secretary, and he looked at it and was like, "Really good job, Sara," he knew that [the ABLE Act] was up, and it makes me feel good that he does that, you know. Now I have a pretty funny story, not just with that with work and stuff, I also help people who get iPhones at the firm. I helped an attorney learn how to use an iPhone, and his brother, I had to help him with his iPhone, so it was pretty funny. I helped someone, too, he’s an attorney, when he first started, he wanted help to get his computer together, and he was like, “Alright Sara, go in there and show him how it's done.” So I did, and I fixed everything, and he couldn't believe it that I, a person with Down syndrome, could fix a computer. I hooked everything up and stuff and it was pretty funny.

Nicki: So when you say something like that, you have such a great sense of humor about it, but like, are there other examples of like times when you realized that people don't think that you can do something?

Sara: Yeah. A lot.

Nicki: Can you share some of those?

Sara: A lot of them are personal ones, a lot of them are work ones. And friends-wise. Um.... I don't want to share too much of that.

Watch Sara's appearance advocating for the ABLE Act on YOU BE THE JUDGE .

WISER

Sara Wolff: I was friends with this person for a very long time. She used to come over here a lot, like in the summer, in the winter, whatever, you know. But then that summer I get a phone call from her saying that she doesn't want to be friends with me anymore. "Now that we're going into high school, I don't want to be seen with you." I was white faced. I didn't know what to say. It was the summer, it was a really hot day, really hot, and I was really hot and pale. … But, that happened a really long time ago. ‘Till this day, me and her, we don't really talk as we used to. We're not really friends as we used to, but we sometimes say hi to each other when we do see each other, like how you doing, that kind of thing. I don't trust her as I used to. 

Nicki Pombier: After that phone call, what happened, what did you say in response when she said that? 

Sara: Nothing. I couldn't speak. I just hung up the phone. Well actually I didn't hang up the phone. I kind of just, was just standing still. My mom thought, you know, I was about to pass out, ‘cause it was so hot that day. And I don't remember hanging up the phone, I think my sister hung up the phone or something, someone hung up the phone. But that was hard to get over. Because she was like my best friend. I told her stuff that I never told my parents. 

Nicki: Why do you think she called you out of nowhere like that?

Sara: Her reputation, basically. That's why. Hanging out with a person with a disability, and that kind of thing. But, it's over, it's done with. A long time ago. 

Nicki: Starting high school after that, did you see her in the halls?

Sara: Mm-hmm. I’d walk by her, that was it. Hi, how are you sort of thing. She had her own friends. 

Nicki: And she never brought it up with you again? 

Sara: Nope. 

Nicki: Did you tell other friends that that had happened? 

Sara: Probably, I just don't remember exactly. 

Nicki: Did you make a lot of new friends in high school? 

Sara: Yes. I used to volunteer time at special ed classroom in high school. I had a lot of friends there, too. One of my friends, her name was Jennifer Knoll, actually she was handicapped, and she was in a wheelchair, she was one of my good friends, and she passed away. I had another friend, Laurie, she had cancer and she passed away. So. Like I said, I had a lot of friends, but they're all gone now. Except one of my friends who I’ve been friends with since second grade. Her name is Kristy, and we did a lot of stuff together as kids. We lost touch with each other over the years, but we did graduate together. We are the same age now, she turned thirty in August. I’m still friends with her. Throughout the years, we used to have a pool party for third grade, and one of her sisters came over while her mom was picking her up. I don’t remember this story, she does, but I guess I was playing tag with her sister. And I don’t know who won, I’ve been trying to search for that answer. 

Nicki and Sara: [Laughter] 

Sara: Throughout all these years, I feel like I have a special connection to Kristy. Now she’s married, and has two kids. One of her kids has Down syndrome, her name is Julia. She is so adorable, I just want to take her home. She’s a cheerleader, she’s included in kindergarten now, so I’m extremely proud. They call me Aunt Sara now, which, I’m not their aunt but I wish I was. That’s beside the point, last year I got reacquainted with that girl I was playing tag with. So now I've got a friend who is younger than me, and it kind of feels good, ‘cause it makes me very superior. 

Nicki and Sara: [Laughter]

Nicki: Well older or not, you are definitely wise. 

Sara: Thank you. I try to be.

THE LOOK

Sara Wolff: I have different ways to communicate with people.

Nicki Pombier: What do you mean?

Sara: Like, I talk about a lot of things with people that no one knows that I say. I'm usually quiet at home, I don't want to talk much here. I keep stuff in. I don't want my parents to worry about me. That's the thing. Like, it's okay to be worried, it's just I know they're parents, but. Sometimes they have to let go. And that's hard for them. 

Nicki: What about when you were in high school, were you quiet at home?

Sara: Mm-hmm. I keep stuff in. I never told anyone about one time that I was bullied. 

Nicki: In high school?

Sara: Mm-hmm. 

Nicki: You never told anyone? 

Sara: Nope.

Nicki: Except me now? 

Sara: Yep. 

Nicki: Really?

Sara: Yep. 

Nicki: Do you want to tell me about what happened? 

Sara: Someone was making fun of me, and I kind of kept quiet, I didn't want to make a big deal about it, it was something small really. When I get bored, I get fidgety sometimes. Like, I play with my eyelashes when I'm bored, but I listen at the same time. So my friend was doing this, too, making fun of me the way I was doing it. And I had this look that would, what’s the word I'm looking for? Shut her up. I gave her a look. My nostrils flared up. And that was it. I did it the other day, to a friend. I wanted to give her something and she didn't want to take it, so I did that look, that serious look, my nostrils flared, and she was like, "Ooh, Sara! You look serious!" [Laughs] Yeah, I am serious. So, she did keep it. 

Nicki and Sara: [Laughter]

Nicki: So you gave that look, and your friend— 

Sara: We stopped being friends.

Nicki: So you gave that look that to me says, like, I'm angry, this is disrespectful, what are you doing? But on the inside, were you feeling strong and angry, or were you feeling—

Sara: Both. Both.

Nicki: Was it hurtful?

Sara: No. It made me feel good ‘cause I'm, you know, helping myself, but yet, you're wearing the person down, which is good.

MOVES LIKE MICHAEL

Nicki Pombier: Tell me about your first variety show. 

Sara Wolff: Oh that was hysterical. I surprised everybody, surprised my family. It was fun, it really was. Nobody knew what I was going to do. 

Nicki: What did you end up doing? 

Sara: I ended up dancing to NSYNC, I don't know why I picked NSYNC, I should've picked Backstreet Boys. But I surprised everyone and it was fun. 

Nicki: Tell me about the performance that afternoon at the variety show. 

Sara: People were, like, screaming, I felt like I was a performer. It was fun. And that night, everybody came out from the community to see it. I danced, and I became friends with a lot of seniors, there were seniors who ran up to the stage and like went crazy. It was pretty fun. People were talking about it for a long time, for a very long time. They still talk about it. And so then, each year I had to update my game. The last year was my favorite ‘cause I did Michael Jackson, and that was my big thing you know. Michael Jackson was part of spirit week, and I wanted to take over 'cause I love Michael Jackson, and I knew the moves and stuff, so I taught myself some Michael Jackson moves that year, I did the moonwalk and stuff like that, I could still do it if I wanted to. I saw him once, I think it was for the Grammy's that year, I remembered him taking off his jacket, and went down here and did that thing on his face, that's what I was doing at the variety show. I took off the jacket, and threw it in the audience. I took off my shoe once, and the glove. So it was pretty fun. 

Nicki: That's amazing.

Sara: Yeah. I did a mix of songs, the Man in the Mirror. I did Billie Jean first. That was more fun because I got people crazy, like I did the hand on the thing, I went like that, that was more fun. People were like, how'd you know how to do that? [Laughs] And I took off my stuff. That year was so much fun, my senior year, because of Michael Jackson, that's why. Yeah, the seniors made it special for me that year. It was really cool. 

Nicki: What did they do? 

Sara: They just ran up to the stage, and made me feel like I was an entertainer, you know? I love the variety show. I've been going to see it a long time. Oh yeah, and I actually, that year when I was doing Michael Jackson, I remembered him running from the back to the stage, and I did that one year at the variety show, I had a hand out like this and I slapped people's hands along the way, and I got people going. It was fun. I love surprises. 

Nicki and Sara: [Laughter]

Nicki: Well it sounds like you love performing, too. 

Sara: I do. I make up my own dances in my room. 

Nicki: Do you still?

Sara: Yep I still do.

Nicki: Are there places to dance around here? 

Sara: Yeah, I choose not to go cause driving-wise, but I do it in my room.

MORE THAN PUBLIC SPEAKING

Sara Wolff: I do a lot of public speaking. I started in 2002, for the National Down Syndrome Society. They recognized me for the Buddy Walk I did in 2001, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City with Barbara Walters. That was my very first public speaking engagement, and I was funny, I was adlibbing a lot, I blew it out of the park. At the end of everything, everybody stood up of course, and Barbara Walters said, "Never put me first, before Sara Wolff." [Laughs] She had to fix her makeup because she was crying. It was pretty cool. Thirty people came in honor of me that day. My dad was crying that day. That was really special. I did say something while speaking, I got a quote from Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, he said something about how you have to capture live audiences, and I said, you take all that live audience, and put them in the palm of your hand - and the room went nuts, laughing. It was pretty cool.

Nicki Pombier: So that was your first ever public speaking engagement, which is pretty amazing. When did you start doing more public speaking?

Sara: Ever since that time. After the Waldorf, I got a call from Omaha, Nebraska. Teachers and administrators from different schools across the United States were going to a national education conference in Omaha, Nebraska, and Special Olympics Project Unify, and I was totally drawn to the whole thing, it was really cool. I liked it a lot. Especially Project Unify. I love what they do. Amazing things they do for people with and without disabilities. I wish we had something like that up here. So, it was really neat thing to see people get together and just do activities and information sharing about leadership and advocacy. I visited some college in Lincoln, Nebraska, we visited some sports they did there. That was awesome. I loved the basketball, that was my favorite, we saw the volleyball game, which was really cool, and then we went to a frat house. I never did that before, that was really awesome though. I loved it. I had such a great time. They did many activities at the frat house, and everybody just got together and hung out and stuff. It felt like I was in college, you know? It was the coolest feeling. 

Ever since Omaha, people have been calling me to come to their state, and speaking to their schools, which is really cool. I did Portland, Oregon, I did teacher in-services. I did third graders, I read them a book called Taking Down Syndrome to School, and I do a PowerPoint after that. I spoke for Special Olympics in Austin, Texas, that was really cool. They want me back, which is good. I love Austin, Texas. That was one of my favorite places to go, actually. I love the people. Their accent is so cute. [Laughs]. Even my cousin who lives in Houston, he has a deep accent, and he's from Pennsylvania. 

Nicki and Sara: [Laughter]

Nicki: Well let's go back to Omaha for a second. Can you tell me about the speech that you made there, and the reaction that people had? 

Sara: I talked about myself. My school experiences, I did four years of variety show, I was involved in many activities growing up. I talked about inclusion. I am fully included through pre-school to high school graduation, regular diploma, like everybody else. I talked about just being included in the community and stuff with my family and friends. A little bit about the personal side, about how I didn't like my face and stuff, but I don't feel that way anymore. My mom looked in my journal from middle school, where I wrote that about my face, and she read it and she cried. She didn't confront me, I wish she would've but she didn't, so that is in my speeches now. I don't like when parents look in your journal. Looking through your journal. So, that's a quote from me. Watch out. [Laughs] 

Nicki: How did you find out that she read it in your journal? 

Sara: Because I was writing in my journal and she looked over my shoulder and I looked at her. 

Nicki: Oh [laughs]. So, why do you include that in your speeches? 

Sara: It's important. 

Nicki: Tell me why it's important. 

Sara: So that people can be more accepting of themselves. That's why. 

Nicki: Well, I think it's really brave that you put that out there.

Sara: Thank you.

Nicki: Yeah. How do people respond to it? 

Sara: I don't know. They just – I love when people give opinions and I work on it to make it better. Sometimes they don't, sometimes they do. But. It's a cool feeling, it really is. 

Nicki: So Omaha was like your first big national speaking engagement, right? 

Sara: Right. 

Nicki: Did it make you want to do more of that? 

Sara: Somewhat. I just like sometimes to be more educated first, and then keep going with it after that, maybe. I like to learn more about what I'm doing.

Nicki: How did you learn more about that kind of work? 

Sara: I just teach myself. I love teaching myself things.

Nicki: How did you teach yourself about public speaking? 

Sara: I did a course for speech communication at a local college, and I feel like I was the teacher of it, because I did so many speeches, but it was really cool though.

Nicki: How did your classmates respond to your speeches? 

Sara: Quiet at first. It was college, it was different than high school because they didn't know you, so it was quiet, but they were very accepting. 

Nicki: So you have these public speaking opportunities to sort of use your own life as an example or an inspiration, and we were talking earlier about how you are really positive in those speeches— 

Sara: Yes.

Nicki: How do you prepare for a speech like that? Is it very easy, does it come very naturally to you? 

Sara: Yes. It does. 

Nicki: You're lucky. When I do public speaking, my voice starts shaking like crazy, I get so nervous.

Sara: I never get nervous. Very rarely I get nervous. 

Nicki: Have you ever been in a situation where you're like saying something in a speech and it's like not really how you feel?

Sara: Somewhat. More like a script, really. But I enjoy speaking. I really do. Just, you know, sometimes people should see what I am at home. Like I have a life too, but not so peachy. [Laughs] Beyond public speaking. 

Nicki: So in some ways it sounds like to me, you said in your public speaking it's like a script, and it comes very naturally to you. Is it almost a little like acting? 

Sara: Somewhat. Yeah. I always want to try acting. 

Nicki: Well you've got some television experience.

Sara: That's interviews! 

Nicki and Sara: [Laughter]

Sara: Interviews are not acting.