This guest post is by Connor Trang, a young man who is diagnosed with autism and is attending Florida International University. Connor is applying for the Spring 2024 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.
The standards of someone “typical” are often specific and precise and usually follow an idea that is subjective. As someone who was born different, I questioned if I am “typical” when I was told all my life that I was “atypical”. My ASD, better known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, has made me face significant daily challenges to conform to this confusing world around me.
When my mother was with child, she unfortunately became seriously ill and had major health complications. She became very ill and because she was expecting, this emphasized the danger of her illness. Because of this, she had to deliver me earlier than my expected due date. I had average vitals, however, over time I did not possess normal social skills and was later diagnosed with a birth defect. Born premature, and underweight, I was later diagnosed with ASD, better known as Autism Spectrum Disorder. This has made me face significant daily challenges to conform to this confusing world around me.
Unfortunately, because of my ASD, I was non-verbal for the first 5 years of my life. I could only communicate through sign language or by pointing at objects that started with a specific letter. It impacted my life significantly, as the world is not very accommodating of my disability. While these obstacles forced me to mature at a more advanced rate, I was able to correct my “flaw” by participating in intense therapies that varied from occupational to physical.
Despite my disability, I have worked hard to develop strategies to be successful as a neurodiverse person. I now possess full motor skills and can start conversations out of thin air that many neurotypical people my age struggle with. I can order for myself at a restaurant, manage my finances, and even live independently. This has been in due part thanks to my mother, who has significantly improved my social skills and I have become aware of what is happening around me to the point that many don’t think I am disabled.
Recently, my own mother, who was a former Special Needs teacher, became disabled herself. I have taken care of her by cooking and cleaning single-handedly and still managed to attend school and take care of my own affairs. I have seen firsthand how ugly people are as they treat her like livestock rather than a human being. This makes me furious as I remember being in her exact position and witnessing it from a loved one hurts even more than it being done to yourself.
Being able to afford higher education is a main concern of mine while I continue therapies that assist me in becoming an independent, productive individual. In addition, my parent’s financial stability has been severely impacted since my mother has recently become disabled herself due to a long-term illness and is unable to continue her passion as a special education teacher. These new challenges have significantly impacted our family and I hope to alleviate some of the financial burden by receiving this wonderful scholarship that will allow me to pursue my dreams of becoming a self-reliant adult with an education in spite of my ASD.
On a positive note, I had the opportunity to be in an Interior Architect 4-year course offered at my high school. The program was taught in a manner to develop competencies in the areas of interior architecture industry. It was taught from basic principles of interior design to real world design applications and finally client presentations. This intensive 4 year program helped expand my interest into my passion of becoming an Interior Architect. I also had the opportunity to shadow an accomplished designer in the New York area which enabled me to get real world experience and skills in both residential and commercial projects.
People with disabilities are often shunned by society because of non-accessible public spaces. All people regardless of their disability have a right to live a regular life without the strain or stress of. That is why as someone with a disability, I chose to enter the Accelerated Interior Architecture Master’s Program so I can make functional areas for all people regardless of the conditions they have. I would like to create my own design firm as a person with Autism. I would also like for my firm to develop projects to help all individuals with disabilities and most importantly hire those with disabilities who often are overlooked or underrepresented within the workforce.
As a person with a disability, I want to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves and help society progress to the point that they will be judged by their character rather than their disability. In order to bring positive change to my community, I have joined Tau Kappa Epsilon, a prominent fraternity that has made significant strides in promoting leadership, service, and brotherhood among its members since its inception in 1899. Since its founding, TKE has grown into one of the largest and most influential fraternities globally, emphasizing values of character, scholarship, leadership, teamwork, and philanthropy.
In my case, this has allowed me to get into contact with various individuals across the nation as they were also a part of TKE. The fraternity focuses not only on philanthropy and academia but also on brotherhood and its strong sense of community among its members. The fraternity serves as a platform for fostering lifelong friendships and connections. Through shared experiences, traditions, and a common bond, TKE members develop a network of support that extends far beyond their college years. Many of the heads of Fraternity and Sorority positions here at FIU were members of TKE and now have made a mark on the world with the principles the fraternities possess.
I strive to make the world a better place and help those with disabilities. The reason being is that I would like to allow those who are considered “atypical” to know that they are different but no less human, their disability does not affect their worth.
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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.
