Breaking Barriers At UT Dallas Welcomes You
Hope Is Where the Heart Is
Our Mission
Helping the most vulnerable
Here at Breaking Barriers At UT Dallas, we aim to help children who are neurodivergent learn and develop through the support of UT-Dallas students and other volunteers. Our impact can be most meaningful through direct volunteerism at schools, camps, and events. We hope that our members will serve as role models and promote success in this vulnerable population.
Who We Are
Our Roots
Beginning after a meaningful volunteering experience at Camp Summit, a camp for individuals with special needs and disabilities, our founder Ahmed Alshaikhsalama could not stop thinking about the special needs community. Relating to their struggles, and then meeting, almost coincidently, the founder of Waterfall Academy, Ahmed knew he wanted to engage the broader UT-Dallas community with hopes of securing more partnerships, volunteers and support.
What We Do
Making A Difference
Build Relationships
At its core, Breaking Barriers is about people. It's about people connecting with one another, building relationships, and understanding the unique struggles each of us faces. Through the organization, volunteers will have the opportunity to serve and advocate for individuals with special needs by building long term relationships and promoting functional skills with those we serve.
Empower others
Through our strong longitudinal-relationship model, we hope to empower those who serve, along with the volunteer themselves. It's these trust relationships that form between mentor and mentee, volunteer and student, person, and person, which propel them to step out of their comfort zone. Helping individuals feel capable and comfortable is at the forefront of our mission. Throughout empowerment, we break personal, mental, and physical barriers.
Make Connections
We partner with schools and organizations serving individuals with special needs. Our current partner includes Waterfall Academy, a school for children with autism. There, volunteers have held classes, served as teaching aids, and helped the school run its operations. We are always looking to expand our community. If you are interested in partnering with us, or join our volunteering cohort, let us know below!
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does"
