This guest post is by Luke Price, a young man with autism who attends Butler Tech. Luke is applying for the Spring 2023 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.
Over 17 years of life, I have learned that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. We all have had to overcome obstacles throughout our lives. Sometimes we succeed, other times we fail. However, I have learned from past experiences that staying down to whine and cry makes it nearly impossible to get up and achieve that obstacle. But by getting up and persevering, I will overcome the obstacle and beat the odds that were against me. Although I have been told that it’s impossible, it won’t work, or it cannot be done. One’s attitude will determine the outcome.
Because I’m on the spectrum, a lot of things have been difficult for me as I’ve grown up. Communication is hard for me at times. I may stutter or have a hard time completing sentences while I speak. My muscle coordination is not the same as most kids making my movements awkward. It hasn’t helped that I have grown so much over the past couple of years, either. Thinking through processes that are new to me takes me longer. But It’s pretty easy to pack lunch for me because I like the same thing pretty much every day. These are all obstacles in my life.
Due to my obstacles, school has been more difficult, learning is more difficult, and sports (and muscle coordination) are more difficult all because of my Autism. I was on an IEP until my freshman year. It has taken a while and a lot of hard work to get to the point where normal tasks like math homework, communication, writing and organization, and even speaking have become more routine. I had to push through those obstacles every day and persevere by studying and working hard. Because of this, I moved up from an IEP, Individualized Educational Plan, to a 504. That’s what happens when you get back up again and again. You become rewarded with something amazing.
Throughout my life, there have been many days where I’ve wanted to quit. I feel like I’m all alone. On those days, I’m reminded that I’m not alone, and I never will be. On those days, my faith has strengthened me. My parents have loved me. My teachers have supported me. My friends have encouraged me.
I know there are people that have worse conditions than I do. The main goal of this essay, other than to win a scholarship, is to remind them that they are not alone. I understand their pain, and I understand that it may feel like they’re all alone. I know it feels like nobody understands what they’re going through. For many years, I thought I was the only one who understood what I’m going through. In fact, sometimes I still think that. I feel like I’m defined by my autism. Now, I know that I’m not alone. I know there are people who go through similar trials that I go through. I also know that who I am is not defined by my autism.
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.
