Mihaan Dhall (20) and Vir Kapoor (20) have been best friends for as long as they can remember.
Recalling the anxiety of making new friends — Mihaan has Down Syndrome and Vir, autism — they are grateful for this bond.
Watching them find common ground in so many likes and activities, their mothers came up with ‘Buddy Up Network’ — a friendship app for people with disabilities (PWD) and their caregivers.
Mumbai-based Moneisha and Gopika share that the app is designed to be a safe, accessible and inclusive platform for neurodivergent individuals to make deep connections.
The app, they explain, is designed to cater to the needs of those who are inclined to more eclectic patterns of friendship.
Sharing his uncomfortable history of making new friends, Vir says, “It’s easier when someone comes up to me and says they want to be my friend instead of the other way around.”
Mihaan, on the other hand, has a perkier outlook on socialising. One of his closest friends has a speech impairment and is unable to articulate. So, while the ever-chatty Mihaan talks, she types out her responses.
Disability shouldn’t be a bar to making friends. And that, Moneisha points out, is the premise of Buddy Up Network.
While every kind of friendship warrants a deep understanding of the other’s strengths and weaknesses, this becomes more essential in neurodivergent friendships.
Launched earlier this year, the app is amassing a lot of love from the community.
“Anyone above 18 years of age can create an account, while caregiver accounts can be created for children below 18,” Gopika shares.
The app is available in Hindi and English and allows users to search for friends based on age, location, interests, disability, and gender.