This guest post is by Autumn Smith, a young woman who was diagnosed with autism at 10 and plans to attend Savannah College of Art and Design. Autumn 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.
Looking back, it is not a surprise I am on the spectrum. I was nonverbal until almost the age of four, undergoing over seven years of speech therapy to learn to communicate. Even now, I struggle with the social expectations of language and communication, which impact my ability to connect with my peers. I used noise-cancelling headphones starting in elementary school, as I was unable to handle classroom noise most days. I have been bullied, physically beaten up, intentionally isolated, and dealt with severe depression and anxiety for most of my life. In seventh grade, my one and only friend committed suicide due to the level of bullying we were subjected to daily, with no help from our teachers, administrators, or other adults who were present during the abuse. In high school, even though I switched school districts hoping for a new start, I still hit a lot of the same attitudes towards those who are different. I have two suicide attempts in my past, have felt defeated and worthless, and often hated myself and my autism for causing so many challenges in my life.
If you are like me, you are reading the first paragraph and connecting with at least one part of how I have felt growing up with autism. Maybe you have hated your autism as well, wondering why God made you this way, or if the world is a better place without you in it. I am here to tell you that the world is a better place because of you specifically. You matter. You are loved. Your unique perspective and special talents are exactly what are needed to help the world to progress, and you play a special role in this life. Every single person in the world has challenges, and while ours may be a little more obvious at times, we are not alone. You can overcome obstacles in your way, you can show the people around you that autism is not holding you back – but instead allowing you to become an extraordinary human being. You will have challenging times, bad experiences, encounter small minds and cruel hearts… but you can also use everything that you go through to help the next generation to endure and succeed as well.
I was in a bad car crash once, which was extremely traumatic – as the lights, sounds, impact from the other car, all caused sensory overload and pain. I used that experience to create Autumn’s Autism and Anxiety Kits for my community’s emergency responders. I went around to police departments, fire departments, and spoke with local paramedics – providing them with bags I had put together with items to help soothe someone with autism in an emergency situations. I spoke to each adult about how it feels to have autism and experience an emergency or traumatic situation, and also educated them about items that bring relief – like stuffed animals, noise-cancelling headphones, fidget toys to distract them. I also spoke specifically to the difficulties I have with strangers, following rules that are not specific, etc. to those who might see someone with autism and assume they are just being noncompliant.
Did I change the entire world with my kits or talks around my community? No. I did, however, prepare the emergency responders around me to be able to handle situations with those on the spectrum better. I worked to improve the relationships between my community and legal authority, in an attempt to bridge the gap in communication that happens naturally between us. I took something that happened to me, and chose to use it to make those situations better for people like me in the future. It was not easy to stand in front of a group of people and talk at all, especially when they were all strangers. It was not easy to raise funds or donations to make the kits for the different departments throughout the county. It was not easy to even believe that what I was doing would make a difference in the end, but I had to try.
We have a responsibility to each other, and to the ones who will come behind us – to support, to educate, to try to make this world a more accepting and safe place for anyone on the spectrum and anyone who is considered different.
When I look back on all I have been through, and how unfair it is that I have been treated cruelly by my peers and adults alike, I could choose to be bitter and unkind. I could hold a grudge and be hateful. Where would that put me? Why would I want to be like the same people who made me cry and feel like this world was a better place without me? If I chose to treat others how I had been treated, I would only be adding to the evil in this world – and I think there is enough of that already.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I do not believe that the attitude that people on the spectrum are met with in most situations is fair or appropriate. I do not think that we are less than, or that we deserve to be treated as invaluable members of our communities. It breaks my heart when I see others like me treated with disrepect, evil intentions,a and bullying natures. I wish I could snap my fingers and make everything equal, and force others to see the value and reward that comes with interacting with someone with autism. Unfortunately, that is not realistic or within my capabilities.
What I can choose to do is educate, be kind, and continue to advocate for those on the spectrum. I can push through the boundaries that people set on me, and show them that I am more than they give me credit for. I can fight to make this world a better place, and I promise to never stop doing that.
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.
