This guest post is by Harmony Blake, a young woman who is diagnosed with autism and is attending National Louis University Pace program. Harmony 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.
I am Harmony Blake. I believe that I would greatly benefit from your program. I was diagnosed with autism at the age of 5. I have worked hard to overcome my disability. I have worked hard at home to do household chores with minimal supervision. I have learned to clean the kitchen and do the laundry independently. I am currently learning to cook with supervision. While in high school, I was active in the Special Olympics. I participated in soccer and the cheerleader’s squad. I also worked several in-school jobs. I assisted my teachers in their office by cleaning and filing. I also worked as an aide to the librarian.
I love to read and love to interact with people. I am very interested in exploring new activities. I love history and love to research historical figures in my spare time. I love to listen to music, especially music from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. When I was younger, I sang in the church choir and worked as an usher. This helped me in my social skills because I was able to interact with people of different backgrounds and ages. After high school, I participated in the school district’s functional work program. I remained in this program for 2 years. While in the program, I got a job at Burlington as a greeter. I did well and was complimented for being helpful to the customers. I participated in the Hope Foundation program where I was placed in Elim Outreach to learn how to be a mental health worker. I completed the training at the Elim outreach training center and received a certificate as a mental health worker. I also worked over summer SGA services and received a certificate for completing their program.
I applied and got a job working for Sunrise Senior Living, but due to a scheduling conflict, I could not self-transport. I have a desire to do things on my own. I would love to learn how to drive and eventually live on my own. My mother is a bit apprehensive, but I believe that living on campus would help me to be more independent and confident. My life has been difficult at times. When I was younger, I didn’t always understand why I didn’t see the world like others. My peers tended to look at me strangely and often ostracized me. At this time, I am still trying to find my way. I am hoping that being in the National Louis University Pace program will help me to develop my independent skills and develop relationships with like-minded people. I look forward to learning how to navigate the city and living on my own. I have watched my sisters go to school and stay on campus. It has always been my desire to do the same. Your scholarship would go a long way in helping me to achieve my goals. I look forward to using the scholarship to increase my chances of being a spokesperson for autism awareness. I would greatly appreciate being considered for the scholarship.
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.
