Reilly Bauer leads with her voice.
The 17 year-old pageant queen and Carbon County resident uses her platform as the 2021 winner of Pennsylvania Miss Amazing Teen Queen to highlight disabilities that often go unseen. A soon-to-be senior at Panther Valley High School in Lansford, Reilly has autism and is vocal about self-advocacy as well as advocating for others with autism and unseen disabilities. She brings her message to Nashville this weekend, where she is competing in the National Miss Amazing Summit, which concludes on Monday, Aug. 2.
Reilly’s journey to the national stage began five years ago when she entered her first Pennsylvania Miss Amazing contest at 12 years old. Around that time, she honed her performing skills, too, enrolling in voice lessons and participating in community theater.
“I did have social anxiety when I was little, and I still do. And I think all of those things starting were to help me deal with that. … Having a schedule and being able to do that really does help,” she said during a recent phone interview.
The teen found out about Pennsylvania Miss Amazing in 2016 through her mother, Colleen Bauer, who stumbled upon the Special Olympics promoting the event on Facebook. Reilly, who had always been fascinated by pageantry, jumped at the opportunity to participate in the statewide event.
Started in 2016, Pennsylvania Miss Amazing is the state chapter of Miss Amazing, a national nonprofit dedicated to providing women and girls with disabilities equal opportunities to grow their self-esteem, empower personal development, foster community and friendship, address stigmas surrounding disabilities and push for systemic change in laws and policies.
Each Miss Amazing event has three skill areas that contestants participate in: the interview, the passion presentation and the introduction, which also has three age categories: ages 5 to 9, 10 to 35 and 36 and older. Contestants in the 10 to 35 age range have the opportunity to advance to the summit in Nashville.
Reilly’s platform is called “Do You See Me?,” which advocates for people who have unseen disabilities, the teenager explained.
“If you just look at me, you wouldn’t be able to tell I have autism, and believe it or not, a lot of people say that to me,” she said.
“And I think that it’s important for me to advocate for this because it’s incredibly invalidating to a lot of people with autism and disabilities that you can’t see, to be told that, based on five minutes of meeting me or a glimpse of what you see on, like, my Instagram story, that I don’t have a disability based on how I look,” she added. “And I think it’s important for me to teach people that that’s not OK to talk like that and … teach them how to talk with … people with disabilities and really connect with them.”
Reilly’s activism hasn’t gone unnoticed, nor has her presence on stage. Bauer feels proud of Reilly and what she has accomplished with Miss Amazing thus far.
“We practiced a song, and she sang it. I don’t know if I really believed that she would get through it all,” Bauer said. “And I sat in the audience and watched her brighten like the sun on the stage and get through it. And then she just relished in the applause and everything. You could see she became like a different little girl when it happened. … But when she gets on stage, she feels unjudged and she just becomes alive. She owns that stage. It’s hers, and it’s nice to watch.”
Melanie Maresca, the state director of Pennsylvania Miss Amazing, also has watched Reilly’s confidence grow through the years that she has known her.
Maresca and her co-director held a session on Zoom where new girls could talk to seasoned participants like Reilly.
“She was so willing to talk about, you know, how she got through it, or how she started and where she’s at now,” Maresca said. “She was a little bit of a mentor … for them, telling them what to expect or how things work and, you know, things that they may need help from. She was definitely a good advocate for them.”
For as much as Reilly has helped other participants, it doesn’t compare to how Reilly feels the organization has helped her.
“It’s been so amazing. … I was shy and wasn’t fully able to express myself based on the fear of being judged. But Miss Amazing really brings that out of people, and I think it really changed my life because they don’t care obviously if you have a disability. … They just want to celebrate you and who you are — not what you can’t do,” Reilly said.
Throughout the process of preparing for the Pennsylvania Miss Amazing events, Bauer and Reilly also have done a considerable amount of fundraising. Reilly said the two are bake sale pros by now, as her mother added that the pair have it down to a science. Although they experienced difficulty reaching their fundraising goal of $4,000 for their trip to Nashville and the expenses that go along with it, they know the experience is worth it.
“I would pay everything I own to get the confidence and what it’s done for Reilly personally and the growth,” Bauer said.
Even after the National Miss Amazing Summit in Nashville, Reilly knows that she will stay with the nonprofit organization into the future, whether that means competing or simply volunteering.
No matter what, Reilly continues to shine a light on the causes that remain closest to her heart.
“It makes me feel proud of who I am because I’m able to advocate, and a lot of people may not be able to … use their voice. And I’m just lucky to be able to do this and to have such a good audience,” she said.
Contact the writer: bbrier@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9127
