This guest post is by Zillah Checkwood, a young woman who was diagnosed with autism at 12 and plans to attend Kennesaw State University. Zillah 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.
Hi my name’s Zillah Checkwood, and ever since I was a little kid my parents knew I was different. I refused to wear anything but leggings and had a weird habit for organizing any knick knacks I could get my hands on. My parents still tell me stories of my horrific meltdowns and how my father walked several miles with me until I was able to calm down. Not to mention how my actions would often be perceived as rude and mean when I saw my behavior as direct and honest.
My negative behaviors rarely affected my school work but I did often struggle. This would all change around 5th grade. The school system brought out the school psychologist to test me for eligibility for a 504. Although I was in 5th grade my handwriting had never improved since kindergarten. At the 504 meeting the school psychologist informed my parents and I that I had dysgraphia. After the initial diagnosis the school psychologist pulled my parents aside and explained off the record that she believed I was on the spectrum.
The next year we moved to a new school district and it was time for my 504 eligibility meeting. As a new student to the county, the district determined that it would best if they retested me before the meeting. My parents mentioned what the previous psychologist said and patiently waited for the test results. During this time the ESEP Autism teacher at my middle school observed me in class and determined that I was clearly on the spectrum. Shortly after, the school team and my parents created an Individual Education Plan for my autism. Unfortunately, they were not able to officially diagnose me as the tests were school based and not psychology based.
To get an official diagnosis, my parents and I would need to go to the Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta, GA. We all crammed in a small room with a psychologist. I was wearing a solar system tee shirt and the psychologist asked what my favorite planet was? I went on and on about how Pluto was my favorite planet even though it was technically not a planet and was actually smaller than some of Jupiter’s moons. When I paused to take a breath of air, the psychologist asked me to define friendship and what I felt a friend was. I struggled really hard to give her a clear answer. The psychologist smiled, looked over all the results of the previous testing over the years from my schools, and told my parents and me that she was confident that I was on the spectrum and that all my previous testing showed evidence of that.
With an official diagnosis, my parents researched, reached out, and found a therapist to help me understand and work with my autism. The therapist specialized in helping kids deal with meltdowns and the other difficulties that come with being on the spectrum. From the many sessions I learned several methods and skills to help me cope with the mish-mash of everyday triggers. Therapy worked and my social skills improved.
Since my diagnosis and therapy I have accomplished a lot both socially and academically. Socially, I have become a student leader both as an officer in the LGBTQ+ pride club at my high school and also as a SkillsUSA class representative. Through SkillsUSA, I have attended and competed in the computer animation and design competition as well and the metal works display welding competition all while planning for senior prom and graduation. Academically, I have kept all As the past two years, received a 4 on my Computer Principals Advanced Placement exam, and will finish the year with an overall 3.1 GPA.
Although it has been a struggle since my diagnosis in middle school I have gained an understanding of what it means to be on the spectrum and what it means to be okay with being odd.
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.
