This guest post is by Evan, a pseudonym chosen to protect the applicant’s privacy. Evan is an autistic college student with interests in music, acting, animation, audio production, and voice performance. Evan is applying for the Spring 2026 Making a Difference Autism Scholarship through KFM Making a Difference, the nonprofit founded by Kerry Magro. Kerry was nonspeaking until age 2.5 and was diagnosed with autism at 4.
Autistics on Autism: The Next Chapter shares stories from more than 100 autistic adults about what helped them while growing up and pursuing their dreams. All proceeds support KFM Making a Difference initiatives, including this scholarship program. To invite Kerry to speak at your school, company, or organization, submit an inquiry here.
Evan is a pseudonym. Identifying details have been generalized at the applicant’s request.
By Evan
All my life, I have loved to act and perform. I would make people laugh with my jokes, recite lines from movies, write plays, and even create cartoons. Acting became my outlet for stress. Like many students, I experienced tremendous stress and anxiety in life. I was diagnosed with autism as a child and did not really know how to express my feelings and passions until I discovered theater and music.
Although theater has been my sanctuary, I did not fully understand its appeal until I realized that I had begun acting long before I knew what it was. My formal acting journey started in middle school with my first play. Performing as part of an ensemble became the springboard for my passion as an actor. I became known for learning my lines quickly, playing a variety of characters, and interacting with people both on and off stage. I also learned how to sing and, although I am still not great at it, dance.
For much of my young adult life, I thought acting was limited to theater and that performances happened only on stage. As I matured, I reflected on my childhood and realized that acting had started much earlier in my life.
Growing up between two homes brought many difficult life lessons. I learned to pretend that I liked things I did not truly like, to act as if I cared when I was simply placating someone, and to seem as if I had an opinion when I felt indifferent. I experienced manipulation, mistrust, selfishness, jealousy—you name it, I lived it. I was also bullied and discriminated against during my school and college years by people who did not understand the autism spectrum and made assumptions instead of learning. I spent much of my time pretending to feel and be something I was not. I perfected the art of “going along to get along” and mastered pretending, all while feeling sorry for myself.
Then one day, a walk with my older brother changed my perspective forever. We were not very close growing up. He is confident, wise, outgoing, optimistic, and never stops talking, but he also offers insights that make you reconsider your view of the world. I, on the other hand, am quiet and tend to hold on to my thoughts. I can be pessimistic and untrusting of the world and people in general.
One afternoon, we went for a walk. Unlike usual, I decided to lead the conversation. Maybe it was the warmth of the sun on my face, or perhaps my brother simply took a breath long enough for me to jump in. Either way, the deep, dark rage I had held inside came pouring out. I shared my feelings about our difficult upbringing. To my surprise, he shared them too, although he offered a different perspective.
Even though we had experienced many of the same harsh feelings and events, my brother’s perspective was positive. Through a great deal of questioning and a pain-filled soliloquy, he helped me realize that the emotional turmoil and constant struggle had made me stronger. Most importantly, I began to connect this new understanding of emotion with my abilities as an actor.
I came to understand how my upbringing inspired my storytelling, creativity, and passion for performing. I learned that seemingly bad situations can be inspiring and can turn into endless strings of dialogue and characters. Inner emotional conflicts can spark ideas and bring a character to life with genuine emotion built into a make-believe soul.
Since then, I have pursued my passions with an open mind and worked to show the world how being on the autism spectrum can make a person unique. I am proud to be surrounded by unique minds every day—people who push me to be better. I take an interest in their talents and learn a great deal from them, while they offer me friendship and support.
I learned to articulate feelings and emotions at a young age that many children could not relate to. Although I learned how to “act” as a child, I have now leveraged my experiences and know where to use life’s lessons: on a stage.
Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also autistic, founded KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help autistic students receive scholarship support for post-secondary education. Help us continue this work by making a tax-deductible donation here.
You can also invite Kerry to speak at your next event by submitting an inquiry here. Kerry speaks with schools, businesses, government agencies, colleges, nonprofits, parent groups, and conferences on autism, employment, college success, mental health, inclusion, and bullying prevention.
