This guest post is by Payton Anderson, a young woman who was diagnosed with autism at 5 and who plans to attend Emory and Henry College. Payton 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.
In middle school I was told that I can’t. I could not look forward to the “normal” high school path which included preparing for college, typical classes, and navigating through school without daily struggles. No one on my academic team believed in me. School had always been a challenge. I knew I was different, but my mom had always told me that did not mean I was less. Different, not less, became my motto.
As a student with autism, I struggled both academically and socially. Math and English were particularly challenging classes. I received extra support through special education services. As I moved through school, the bar was often lowered for me. This was frustrating and became something I have had to work through—especially the societal norm of efforts equal results. I have lost count how many times I was told “just try.” Because of my processing disorder, my level of effort was not matching my results academically. For example, memorizing math problems at Kuman, the math problems would become jumbled while I was taking a test or during homework. Often teachers would get frustrated why I could not understand simple math problems.
What became the catalyst for change? A horse name Bear. I found the only thing that a horse will judge me for is fear, not for my academic abilities. Bear became my partner as I worked though my processing disorder, auditory and spatial defensiveness, and social skills. Over time, the arena became a new classroom for me, and through it, I learned how to tell time. My instructor turned the arena into a clock, and I would steer the horse to specific time. Through this, I gained confidence which transferred into classroom at school, my grades and understanding improving. I participated in therapeutic riding for over nine years, from age six through to my first year in high school.
It was many trips around the arena that helped shape who I am today. I am a small business owner who gives back to therapeutic riding community, competes in dressage, and is in student leader school. My involvement in the community changed from rider to volunteer. I want to become a therapeutic riding instructor so I can work individuals like myself. I own a small business called Central Texas Horse Treats that produces and ships horse treats throughout the US. I give back to the therapeutic riding community, and to date, I have donated $1,900 to it.
Through my full circle journey in therapeutic riding community—rider to side-walker to supporter—I have found confidence. I am in typical classes in school, I have served as guest teacher in my equine studies class and serve as captain of my color guard team. I have found myself doing things I never thought I would have done before such as panel interviews for leadership camps over Zoom in the airport. This previously would have stopped me in my tracks, but now I find myself saying, “just do it.” I have also found my voice—whether it is the treats I design or sticking to my philosophy of only partnering with woman owned businesses—just in riding as I have learned to trust my horse, I now trust myself.
I still laugh when I hear, “you don’t look like you have autism.” If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism. We are all different, but we are not less. I am looking forward to conversations about chasing dreams with people like myself as we walk around the arena.
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. 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.
