This guest post is by Noah Spinelli, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with ASD at age 3 and plans to attend Santa Fe College. Noah 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 had the BEST childhood. If I could go back to being a kid, I would jump at the chance to do it! I loved playing with my animal figurines and watching “Go, Diego, Go!”. Visiting zoos and our local theme parks was my favorite thing to do. I loved swimming and playing with my baby brother. Life was good!
I didn’t really realize all the obstacles I had to overcome. I was TERRIFIED of dark places. I would scream and cover my ears. I hated visiting the doctor. It was torture for him to touch my ears. I hated haircuts too and I would cry and kick. There were many textures that bothered me. One of the biggest challenges would be writing. It’s still hard for me, but I learned to type when I was 8 and that has been a lifesaver! Having things not go as planned made me extremely overwhelmed. I couldn’t control my sadness when things didn’t go the way I thought they should.
I was lucky to have parents who were able to get me help at a young age. I started therapy when I was 18 months old. I had a whole lot of helpers! I had an ABA teacher, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist. Ms. Wendy, my behavioral therapist, would help me tackle my fears by using a pretend doctor’s kit. We would go together to get haircuts and I would breathe and count to ten. I didn’t talk until I was three. I worked with Ms. Sarah, my speech teacher to practice sounds. Ms. Lauren, my O.T., she’s my favorite to this day. She would teach me animal yoga! I’d do ANYTHING if it had animals involved. She helped me with my writing and other fine motor skills.
I will always face challenges with my Autism, but I will continue to work to overcome them. I am confident in who I am and proud to be different! I am grateful for my friends and family who love me just the way I am!
I look at my Autism as a gift. I think it is what helps me retain all the knowledge I have about animals. My friends call me an “Animal Encyclopedia” because I have so many animal facts in my head! I love teaching my friends and family about animals and I dream of being like Steve Irwin one day. I want to spread animal awareness so people will know how important it is to protect each species for generations to come.
Doctors once told my mom they were not sure if I would go to a typical school. I guess I showed them! I have a 3.4 GPA and I am on the swim team and the marching band. I drive and just got a new job at Universal Studios where I get to be a Wizard in the Harry Potter World! Autism doesn’t define me, but it is a part of me. I hope I can inspire people to be happy if they are different. How boring would the world be if we were all the same? Dare to be different!
Follow my journey on Facebook, my Facebook Fan Page, Tiktok, Youtube & Instagram.
My name is Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum that 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 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.
