Brett Gossett, 17, said that he enjoys conducting research on a topic that he is passionate about--children with disabilities.
"My 9-year-old cousin has ADHD and Tourettes, so I have always been interested," he said.
Gossett's research on teacher bias towards children with ADHD landed him as a 2012 Intel Semifinalist.
"It was very surprising, but it was an honor," the Kennedy High School senior said. "There is usually a negative stigma of kids with ADHD so I wanted to bring awareness to that."
Gossett started his research in his junior year under the mentorship of his cousin's doctor.
He sent out 5,000 surveys to teachers around the country. Educators were asked to grade essays from three students--one with ADHD, one with diabetes and one with cerebral palsy.
"The chid with cerebral palsy received the highest grade," Gossett said. "My research found that teachers are biased toward children with non-visible disabilities like ADHD and diabetes."
When he is not researching, Gossett takes part in Kennedy's HOPE Club, the Key Club, the Advanced Science Research Program and works as a Junior EMT for the Bellmore Fire Department.
He said that he wants to continue to advocate for children with disabilities.
"I definitely want to continue my research and I want to be a behavioral psychologist," he said.
