Jump. Spin. Skate. Competitive figure skater Aurora Pfeiffer is laser focused on her body as she races around the rink. The 17-year-old athlete is also neurodivergent and has proprioceptive deficiencies. “I still get scared of jumping and throwing my body in the air and doing these things that I have the strength to do.” Despite the challenges, she brought home silver and gold in the 2025 Junior World Inclusive Figure Skating Championship held in October in London, England. And it was all thanks to a grant from the Lori Ann Fishel Special Needs Fund through the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville.
Pfeiffer says her differences both present challenges and provide help in her sport. “If I weren’t neurodivergent, I wouldn’t be me, and I like myself, I’m pretty cool,” she says. She struggles with time management and focus, but her love for skating keeps her motivated “Passion helps in the beginning. You have to want to be there.”
Pfeiffer’s skating career began at the age of five when she followed her older sister to a skating lesson. Her mother, Rebecca Cardozo-Pfeiffer, says she was not supposed to be skating. “It’s not that I was against it. It’s that she was really young, and really uncoordinated.” Cardozo-Pfeiffer called the coach and asked if she could bring the youngster along. “She’s not someone who can sit on the sidelines.” And after that one lesson Aurora was hooked on the sport.
Cardozo-Pfeiffer says her daughter’s trajectory has not been smooth. “Because of her neuro-muscular challenges every time she would have a growth spurt, she would have to relearn a skill that she’d previously mastered.” The journey has been a learning experience for both mother and daughter, and Cardozo-Pfeiffer credits Pfeiffer’s determination and drive to succeed.
That determination led Pfeiffer to pursue the inclusive skating program. “We thought it would give her a pathway that would reward her effort, not just the outcome,” says Cardozo-Pfeiffer. And while they are pleased with the outcomes, there were some unexpected differences that were less than ideal. “Their scoring and judging system are very different from US figure skating and everything that I’m used to. I like what they’re going for, but the system feels weird to me,” says Pfeiffer.
The inclusive skating system is based in the United Kingdom, and when her daughter was invited to compete in the world championship competition, Cardozo-Pfeiffer says she was determined to figure out a way to get to make it happen. “We had to get to Europe, and stay in Europe, and she can’t do this without her coach. Skating is not inexpensive.” Just as determined as her daughter, Cardozo-Pfeiffer remembered reading in the Observer about grants from the Lori Ann Fishel Fund, which helps people in the Jewish community with disabilities. “I saw the notice about the grants and thought, ‘This is perfect.’”
Thanks to the grant, Pfeiffer was able to bring her coach to London for the competition. “I never want to say Aurora couldn’t do something because she always proves me wrong. But suffice it to say doing an event like that without her coach there would have been a lot for her to handle.” She adds that coaches typically attend every competition supporting and advocating for the athletes, so the grant was a critical part of her daughter’s experience.
Bianka Szijgyarto is Pfeiffer’s coach. She says this is her first experience working with a skater with special needs, but it has been a very rewarding relationship. “Aurora is definitely a very unique kid in a very good way. I have never worked with a skater who is so multi-talented, not just in skating but in the arts.” This competition was also her first time working with inclusive skating. “There were a lot of kids competing there with different adversities. It was definitely a sight to see how far human willpower can take skaters.”
Laurie Fishel along with her father-in-law James Fishel, started the fund in memory of her sister-in-law, James’ daughter. She says Pfeiffer’s success is exactly the type of thing the Fund is designed to help support. “The Fishel family is proud of Aurora, and we are honored to be a part of her success. We appreciate Aurora reaching out to us and we hope her experience inspires others to reach out as well.”
Pfeiffer says, “I’m so grateful for the grant. I had a lovely time in England and I’m so glad I got to do that competition, and I skated well.”
Cardozo-Pfeiffer says her daughter would like to continue competing with the US Figure Skating program and is hoping to make that system more inclusive. “We are working with US Figure Skating to, as a body, create a system that can work with the European system.” She says they are also educating the skating world about developmental disabilities. “They kind of imagine Autism as a one size fits all thing and it clearly isn’t.”
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Szijyarto says the goal is to figure out how to better coordinate the two organizations. “We want to come up with some sort of mutual understanding where what we see in the rules, the verbiage, is more universally understood.”
As for the future, Pfeiffer, who is a home-schooled high school senior, plans to take a gap year and then go to college. She wants to study neuroscience or engineering. In addition to skating, she says she has many hobbies, including art, music, training her dogs, and Pokemon cards. She also enjoys mentoring other skaters and has worked as an assistant coach with Scott Hamilton’s All Stars program, something she would like to do again.
Cardozo-Pfeiffer is also grateful for the Lori Ann Fishel fund, and says the experience is just the first of what she knows will be a lifetime of discovery. “Being Aurora’s mom is like Forrest Gump; she’s a box of chocolates. She is so talented in so many different directions. It’s interesting to let her find her way.”
