This guest post is by Kelly Moore, who attends Tarrant County College Northwest Campus. He is an advocate for the Spring 2025 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 the Next Chapter: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams was released on Amazon on 3/25/25 and looks at the lives over 75 Autistic adults. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go back to supporting our nonprofits many initiatives, like this scholarship program. Check out the book here.
Boldly Going: Embracing Autism’s Unique Path
Introduction
In 1992, I was nine and watched Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Hero Worship.” Timothy, mimicked Data’s precision to bury pain, mirrored my own masking. I emulated my childhood heroes like Data and Spock—logical, unfeeling—feeling like this episode was calling me out. In California’s schools, no one recognized my autism, and if they did, I was never approached about it. Nor did I have the tools with my naivety. My seemingly typical family, shaped by my mom’s quiet stability, likely tied to an unnamed spectrum, hid my differences. At 39, my high-functioning autism diagnosis revealed a lifetime of masking, a truth fueling my aviation mechanics dreams at TCC. Many like me are on a shared path, though uncharted, shine with strength, waiting to be discovered.
Early Challenges and Self-Perception
I imagined myself an android in a human world, I mimicked peers, a skill honed watching Data’s character. In California’s military base schools, I was a blank slate, seeming standoffish as I studied others’ behaviors and patterns. No peer or teacher named my autism. Social invitations were limited to family friends in our sheltered home, where my parents’ norms demanded I please them and developed ethical behavior due to an innate drive. My mom quietly shielded us from Dad’s harsh punishments, shaped our structured home. Her stability then is likely spectrum-related, though I was naive to it. Moving to Texas, the isolation without that community was slightly covered by my paternal grandfather’s family. Lack of peer connection drove me to tinker with electronics—later my PC-building refuge—deemed destructive. I thought I was to be programed to please like an android. At 39, I sought counseling to help process my friend Alex’s death. Suspecting though my friendship ties that “birds of a feather flock together”, I grew curious if autism or ADHD play a role. This spurred my high functioning autism diagnosis and revealed my strength, sowing resilience for an uncharted path.
Pivotal Moments of Growth
Like the Enterprise charting a new course, I found my path through Star Trek’s Data and Spock, showing their outsider perspectives as a gift, though isolating. From “Hero Worship” to “The Measure of a Man,” Data’s fight for identity sparked my own, valuing precision before I knew autism. In 2019, at 35, my friend and advocate Pedro saw potential in my analytical questions. “Your mind’s perfect for aviation,” he urged, inspiring my stable job at American Airlines. In 2022, I returned to TCC for my A&P certification, my pattern-seeking mind thriving, as in childhood PC-building when social puzzles stumped me. My mom’s stability, likely spectrum-related, anchored me, unseen in my naive youth, unlike my family’s silence, deeming my focus “weird.” These moments—Data’s lessons, Pedro’s faith, TCC’s triumphs—reframed my autism as strength before my 2022 diagnosis at 39. To the autism community: our paths, though similar, hold unique strengths, shining like stars in uncharted skies.
Current Journey and Aspirations
I’m charting my future in aviation maintenance, like the Enterprise navigating the stars. Though not selected for Richardson Aviation’s summer internship, their mentorship builds my network at TCC, where my 3.5 GPA shines. Overcoming an initial faltering grade in turbine engine theory—mastering study skills—proved my autistic focus can solve any puzzle. Past struggles shake me, but they also bolster. I’m drawn to helicopter maintenance but remain inspired by Star Trek’s utopic vision for space exploration. When finals stress me, my found family—Pedro, Maggie, Casey—reassures: “You’ve got this.” My mom, whom I now support, praises my exam scores, unlike my family’s earlier silence, calling my focus “weird.” Her vibrant yet steady foundation, likely spectrum-related, anchors me, unseen in my naive youth. Alex’s 2022 passing left a legacy of critical thinking, urging me forward. This scholarship will ease textbook and FAA exam costs, a “license to learn,” as instructors underscore. To the autism community: our neurodiverse strengths, like a starship’s warp drive, propel us to uncharted dreams—embrace them boldly.
Message to the Autism Community
To my fellow autistic travelers: our journey, like navigating an uncharted galaxy, binds us. As a child, I masked my differences, naive to my autism and my mom’s likely spectrum traits, inherited yet unconfirmed. Data’s quest in Star Trek’s “The Measure of a Man,” embracing humanity over “superior” perfection, shaped my outsider lens. My 2022 diagnosis, still unfolding, revealed my logic-seeking focus as a strength, fueling my TCC aircraft maintenance work and dreams of space exploration. Like me, you carry gifts—focus, creativity, resilience. Pedro and Alex’s legacy taught me to soar; my mom’s steady love, unseen in my naive youth, anchors me. Your path holds challenges, like masking or isolation, but it’s your starship’s course. Embrace neurodiversity to boldly go toward your dreams. From classrooms to hangars, your strengths shine like stars, redefining autism with purpose.
Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue a post-secondary education. Help us continue to help students with autism go to college by making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit here.
Also, consider having Kerry, one of the only professionally accredited speakers on the spectrum in the country, speak at your next event by sending him an inquiry here. If you have a referral for someone who many want him to speak please reach out as well! Kerry speaks with schools, businesses, government agencies, colleges, nonprofit organizations, parent groups and other special events on topics ranging from employment, how to succeed in college with a learning disability, internal communication, living with autism, bullying prevention, social media best practices, innovation, presentation best practices and much more!
