This guest post is by LeRoy Brown, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with autism at 10 years of age and attends the University of Denver. LeRoy is applying for the Spring 2023 Making a Difference Autism Scholarship via the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference started by me, Kerry Magro. I was nonverbal till 2.5 and diagnosed with autism at 4, and you can read more about my organization here. Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams, our nonprofit’s new book, was released on March 29, 2022, on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults.
I wish I could inform you that I can support myself throughout college, but the fact of the matter is that I cannot financially. My primary semester at PCC was amazing, but I knew it was overlooking something. As an English Literature student, I recognized the importance of accompanying people together through reading and writing and how it can receive an immense impact on others. That is the true magic of English Literature, then it strikes me! Why doesn’t Pueblo Community College allow a Literature club? Therefore, I spoke with peers in my Literature class and got some faculty members to support me with the creation of this club, and am so honored. They put in countless hours to represent this club, and we are now chartered. We all had to employ Interpersonal skills, personal passions, dedication, persistence, enthusiasm, and endurance. It was very challenging at first, but we all stuck through and now have a place to share our writing. I want to expressly communicate my gratitude to all involved directly and indirectly.
This is an inclusive club here at PCC. We intended to make an impact on our community through the expression of words which is the beauty of literature. The personal satisfaction of making others smile is truly a gift that is drastically harder for those with any disability, especially Autism. Just imagine having constant social anxiety and always being told by parents, teachers, counselors, therapists, friends, etc. Because of a diagnosis of Autism, you will never succeed, get laughed at every day, and worst of all get told that you act like a child and do not know why and how. As one that deals with the tragedy that is Autism Spectrum Disorder, I aspire every day to impact at least one other person’s life and promote their flourishing. I know that by impacting at least one person’s life they will impact another, and they will impact another, and so on and so on. This is truly amazing. I would love to see more people taking the incentive to make an impact because making an impact on just one person is still an impact.
In sum, I will continue earnestly despite my apparent weaknesses. These being autism spectrum disorder, a first-generation college student, and coming eagerly from a financially burdened household. I wisely leave this; naturally, I devote most to every possible moment. That precious is why I carefully choose to further my education for the social betterment of civil society and the academic field of constructive criticism. It is possible to succeed no matter what labels people put on you. College is a challenging time but is rewarding not only for oneself but for the betterment of society and the community. Enlighten yourself to enlighten others. One smile is one person helped.
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My name is Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum. I started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue post-secondary education. Help support me so I can continue to help students with autism go to college by making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit here.
Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams was released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go back to our nonprofit to support initiatives like our autism scholarship program. In addition, this autistic adult’s essay you just read will be featured in a future volume of this book as we plan on making this into a series of books on autistic adults.
