Speech focuses on invisible disabilities and how they can affect people’s perceptions.

A speech that focused on invisible disabilities and how they can affect people’s perceptions helped Hope Courtney-Myers, 20, of Fairborn to win the title of National American Miss of Ohio in July in Columbus.

“When Hope said she wanted to do a pageant, I thought, ‘Oh no!’” said Buffie Courtney, Hope’s mother.

However, when Hope puts her mind to something, it happens. Before COVID, Hope participated and won a few pageants, but for this competition, she really wanted to enter the optional Spokesmodel portion of the pageant as well.

For the Spokesmodel portion of the contest, the entrant must deliver a one-and-a-half-minute speech on a topic of their choice wearing a business professional outfit. Beyond the speech, she still had to participate in the required overall competition, which included formal wear, personal introduction, interview and community service.

Hope’s speech expressed how she lives everyday life with the invisible disabilities of PTSD and anxiety, and her disability of bilateral closed-lip schizencephaly. This disability, which is a rare developmental birth defect, causes Hope to be nonverbal. Hope also has cerebral palsy. However, Hope’s mother said her cognition is strong and she communicates with sign language and the help of an iPad. Here is the speech Hope wrote:

“Hi. You’ve probably already noticed that I cannot talk and use adaptive American Sign Language to communicate. I also use a wheelchair for mobility. Those are my physical disabilities. I also have an invisible disability called anxiety as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder are known as PTSD. It affects my sleep, mental health, and I get overwhelmed. I worry a lot about things. And I get anxious in crowds. Because people treat me differently in public and will treat me differently because of my disabilities. Common things I have heard are calm down, get some rest, don’t get worked up. Words and phrases like this do not help. They actually make me more anxious. It is extra difficult when you are questioned or doubted. Also, you might have just thought someone was being weird when they might have an invisible disability. For example, one of my moms had a stroke last year. So now she has an invisible disability. Since her stroke, she gets underestimated and misunderstood. Before I go, I would like to give you a little fun fact. July is Disability Pride Month. Because this will encourage you to treat people with respect, love and kindness. Thank you for your time and attention. Happy Disability Month.”

Hope also did a dance routine in her wheelchair with the help of her mother, as well as a formal night where evening attire is required. She also had to speak with and answer questions from the judges in a limited amount of time. She did this using her iPad.

When the awards for the categories were announced, and Hope won, her mother said her legs started vibrating indicating that she was extremely happy. Hope also made an impact on her peers. She won the Miss Personality award. Each contestant votes for the person in their age division that is the friendliest and most helpful. Hope said that one of her favorite parts of competing is spending time with the other girls and enjoying activities together.

Her mom, Buffie, was incredibly proud when Hope won. After months of helping her with her speech and other parts of the competition, she said that Hope’s win was well-deserved and made her a little teary-eyed.

“I cried. Just for so many things. Yes, that these judges get her. Yes, these girls, these young women get her. Yes, this pageant gets her. It was a great speech. She had given three months to working on this speech. I doubt anybody is working that hard on their speech,” Buffie said.

Now Hope will travel to Orlando, Florida, in November for the national competition where she will be representing Ohio. It will be a family affair, as Hope is part of 10-person family, and they are all driving down to Orlando together.

In preparation for nationals, Hope is making tweaks to her speech. Her mother expressed that Hope wants to personalize it more for the audience. Hope also needs to purchase a ball gown, and she wants to wear purple to represent epilepsy.

Hope is excited for the national competition. Beyond pageants, she loves to read about adventures, especially anything in England. She also enjoys social media, particularly TikTok. Hope said she finds support on social media from others with disabilities and stories of families with adopted children that are similar to her family.