This guest post is by Andres Castillo, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder – not otherwise specified) at age 3 and has been attending Valencia Community College. Andres 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. Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams, our nonprofit’s new book, will be released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100+ autistic adults.
I grew up with my family from Puerto Rico in my mom’s side and my stepfamily from Colombia in my stepdad’s side. However, I did not see my family who are from Puerto Rico in my biological dad’s side too often. However, I did not grow up with my family who are from Puerto Rico in my biological dad’s side. I am Ortiz from the bottom of my stepfamily’s heart. I was very excited to get my high school diploma. I was really feeling emotional because I was glad that my high school graduation was over with. Autism has been a challenge for me at times but thankfully I learned to live with some of the challenges It has given me when I became a young adult. I used to not feel belonging for my diagnosis, but for right now I do.
I graduated from grade school from a special program. I took a small bus throughout my school years in the states. I went to Boys Scouts with special needs students in sixth grade. After Thanksgiving, I got out because it was not for me. In seventh through ninth grade, I was a member of Boys and Girls Club. In tenth grade, I was a member of the Spanish club. In my senior year of high school, I was a member of the National Honor Society.
I have been studying at a community college for 6 years. In the next Fall semester, it will be my first time going to university, but my seventh time going to college. Sometimes taking college courses online might be challenging for me. Since the pandemic has started, I could not go back to campus. I went to visit my family on my mom’s side and my stepfamily on my stepdad’s side in Texas during Christmas after the pandemic had started. My college overall GPA will be a 3.0 out of 4.0 scale once this fall semester is over, and my college cumulative GPA will be a 3.22 out of a 4.0 scale.
Last semester, it was my first time being on the Dean’s List from a community college. During the Spring of 2022 semester, I will be in an internship program for communication, and that is why I am taking a journalism course that is related to face to face. When I was in my third year as a freshman student at a community college, I was in the Math Honor Society for being a member of the math club for two years in May 2019.
My educational goals are to earn my associate degree in general studies, and my bachelor’s degree in communication. Sooner or later, once I have my bachelor’s degree in communication, I will be working on my master’s degree in creative writing at the age of 30. My career goals are being an actor, writing my songs in Spanish, become a news reporter, broadcast journalist, and author. The reason I want to sing and write my songs is that I want to work on the television is what I want to be someone in life on the industry of music.
Additionally, it helps me to travel all over the world. I will get to meet new people in every place and visit many countries, it is my dream to be famous. In my high school years, I did not have an income and I had to move to multiple states because of my dad’s job in the Armed Forces. I did not have a chance to make money because I had to focus on my education in eight different states and one Hispanic country. I had been through many changes at school due to my moving experiences. However, my diagnosis has not stopped me from having a better education and my parents always taught me that it is okay to be different. They also taught me to achieve and work for my dreams. I will be going to a TV school to learn about jobs in the music and the acting industry to earn my certificate in music and acting next year in the Summer.
Hopefully, in this summer or next semester I will find a way to get a job.
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.
Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams, will be released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 125+ 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.
