Abstract :
As the curtain opened on the Miss Vermont International pageant in November 2014, Karly Fereday stood in a red dress waiting to begin the dance routine that she and the other pageant contestants had been perfecting for weeks. After more than three years away from competing, the 22-year-old had made her comeback a month earlier by placing in the top six in the Miss Vermont 2015 pageant. Now, with her family somewhere beyond the bright glare of the spotlights, Fereday was excited for the show to begin. A win would give her a year to travel throughout Vermont raising awareness for autism. With her ten-year-old brother Kristopher on the autism spectrum, Fereday´s platform was close to her heart.
