This guest post is by Kevin England, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with autism at a young age and is attending Bristol Community College. Kevin is applying for the Spring 2022 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.
I hope you can support my nonprofit like I’m trying to support these students with scholarship aid for college. Learn more on how you can help our cause with a small donation (just asking for $3 today, equal to your daily cup of coffee) here.
Every single one of us is special in our own way. Some people may be more caring than others while some may be smarter than others. While we are unique in our own ways, there are some obstacles and problems that we may encounter in our everyday lives. This can include, an illness, family issues, school issues, or work issues.
I was born on December 29th, 2000, and when I was only a baby, I had seizures and was put on medication for a long time. A few years later, I was diagnosed with autism and was put into a special education classroom in elementary school. In third grade, I was put into an inclusion class, and I was struggling to keep up with my work. As a result, I was kept in the special education classroom where I would get extra assistance. When entering middle school, I was only in the special education classroom for English and Math only.
In contrast to elementary school where I had my teachers give me extra assistance, I had a teacher who expected me to do my work on my own and pushed me to give the best quality of work. While going through 7th and 8th grade, I would often get annoyed and stressed out when I had this teacher. However, I believe that this helped me succeed through High School.
When entering High School, I still had a hard time advocating for myself. I always wanted my special education teacher to talk to my regular teacher about my assignments. However, as time went on, I was able to keep up with my assignments and advocated with myself when I needed help. Throughout my years of High School, I was able to keep an A average for each year and was inducted into the National Honor Society because of my grades. In addition, I also took part in Key Club where I did a lot of community service projects with my fellow classmates. While I was doing well academically, I still had a hard time making friends. Some friends that I made were not autistic and as a result, did not understand that I had anxiety or that I can be a little overbearing at times. This resulted in fewer friends which made me feel upset.
When graduating high school, I got the principals award and was one of the top ten in the class. After High School, I attended Bristol Community College. When starting, I got a little uncomfortable because of the change between High School and college. However, I easily adapted to the new change and continued to get A’s and B’s. I got accepted to PTK because of my grade point average and I am now planning on graduating in the spring of 2022. After BCC, I am planning on going to Bridgewater State University to pursue a degree in communications.
In regard to my social life, I joined some social groups and met some new friends who had the same ability and interests as me. I met one of my closest friends on an art field trip in High School. Both he and I are on the spectrum, and we are both similar in many ways. As a result, I have someone to relate to and someone that I can hang out with. In addition to my close friend, I also have many other acquaintances that I message or call from time to time that I can also relate to. Finally, I have a wonderful group of family members who love me very much and have always been there to support me throughout the years no matter what the issue was.
So what makes me special? I believe that I am special because I have a great group of friends and family members who love me for who I am. In addition, I have a really great memory that was very useful when getting through High School and college. Even though many individuals will overcome obstacles and problems in their lifetime, they can always overcome them and find support through these tough times. It is important to love one another as a society and help those who are down or hurt. By practicing these acts of kindness, we can make our world a better place.
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 that 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.
