Alexis Wineman
Photo Courtesy Creative Commons, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Alexis Wineman never had any intention of being Miss America, but decided to try when she was looking for scholarship money. Wineman put her mind to it, and achieved her goal.
Alexis Wineman is known as “America’s Choice” contestant at the Miss America Competition in 2012, and Miss Montana 2012. She was also diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified, which is known as PDD-NOS, and also has autism.
Wineman told “Time”, [when talking about competing and becoming Miss Montana] “It started as a last-minute way to pay for college. Around high school graduation, I realized I was the fourth child in my family to go to college, and there was no money left for me. I asked my mom about different ways to get scholarships, and she mentioned the Miss Montana competition, thinking I’d never go for it. But I did, and I won.”
According to alexiswineman.com, “Her unique personal story as the first Miss America contestant diagnosed with autism and the third contestant with a disability since the competition’s inception in 1921 made headlines around the world.”
Diane Sawyer named Wineman as “The Person of The Week” on “World News Tonight”, Wineman appeared in “Glamour Magazine” in the 2013 April issue, she was interviewed for the “Today show” and has had many other achievements.
Wineman once said, “Autism doesn’t define me, I define my autism.”
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