This guest post is by Tremayne Edwards, a young man who is diagnosed with autism and plans to attend University of St. Thomas. Tremayne is applying for the Fall 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.
Being diagnosed with autism since I was 3 years old has had its ups and down moments, but those great moments were definitely memorable. Before I understood it, growing up with autism was more confusing and frustrating at times. When I was much younger at one time, I didn’t like to be called autistic. I told my mom to stop calling me autistic whenever I was meeting a new doctor or someone she thought needed to know. I thought it was horrible or like an insult. But it took my mom to explain to me why my life has been an adventure with autism. She said, like sometimes when my brain doesn’t work as fast as everyone else’s, when the teacher asks a question and I can’t push my words out in time and that moment is gone or when I do answer, words come out twisted, that’s autism she said. She reminded me that I make good grades; I have excellent behavior, I’m a hard worker, and I’m talented. She told me that being autistic is who you are and that there are many successful autistic people in the world, and I am one of them. So she told me to not give up but when I get frustrated about it, take a deep breath, shake it off, let it go, do my best and whatever I do, don’t let it get me down. And always believe in yourself, even though you will have those challenges. So, I push through it because I know that I have a lot to offer, even though it takes me a bit longer to get there.
Even though I have those challenges, I really love being in school and I love to draw. I feel that being at school with other kids is the best place to learn some new stuff. So, I’m all about participating in the class, volunteering and learning. Yes, sometimes my delayed speech can get in the way, but I refuse to let it stop me from sharing my thoughts and ideas with the world.
Now, let me tell you about me and drawing. It’s a gift that I can’t let go. I’ve been drawing ever since I was in pre-kindergarten. I can’t get enough of it. My house has tons of my drawings and paintings. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to draw. It’s a part of who I am. Now the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me was last year when I entered the Truck Art Contest that the City of Houston and my school district were offering together, and guess what? I won! Can you believe it? Me, with my drawings on a City of Houston recycling truck driving all over the city for everyone to see. It was like a dream come true. I got a chance to meet some big people like all the City of Houston councilmen but unfortunately the mayor was out of town. But how cool was that? Winning the contest wasn’t easy, though, I had to work hard to come up with my own winning design and meet the deadline. But you know what? It was totally worth it. Seeing my artwork displayed on that truck made me feel even more special and that also I can do anything, autism and all.
Having autism has taught me to have patience, don’t give up and accept who I am. I know it will not always be easy but I have to stay strong and believe in myself. I have loving parents and the best grandfather who have always let me know that I’m a pretty awesome kid. And you know I feel that way too. So, looking at the next school year, I’m super excited to go to college and study pragmatics and minor in Art. I’ve always been fascinated by how people communicate, and I want to learn more about it. Even to this day, I see a speech therapist to help me to understand how to communicate better and I’ve learned a lot. When I won that truck art contest, I saw that people talked a lot about my art design and they wanted to know more about it. So, I had a dream to help others who have problems with communication just like me and I would like to do it by using my art. So, this is pretty much me. I know autism might get me every now and then, but I’m ready to push through whatever comes my way. I’m a hard worker with a big heart, so I know that I can achieve anything I set my mind to.
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.
