This guest post is by Lennon Hare, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at 18 months old and has been accepted into the Rochester Institute of Technology. Lennon 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, was released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults.
I was given the nickname Kuji when I was a baby. Short for the Kujichagalia, a Swahili word and celebrated day of Kwanzaa meaning self-determination, this moniker came to be prophetic and profound. At 18 months old I was diagnosed with autism and began my unique voyage in this world. I had been kicked out of my elementary school where they had a whole team of autism specialists that felt they could not meet my educational needs in their institution. The first Karate instructor I had for three years one day told me to not come back and that I was wasting his time and to give up Karate. I was eleven years old.
The people who knew me always saw my drive from early on. With nine hours a week of multiple early intervention therapies a week until I turned three I am told I was a very eager learner. Being the proverbial middle child of five siblings I was always the diplomat but had to also self-advocate if I wanted my share. Striking the balance was hard in a world of inclusive education where the teachers and administrators did not always understand. I was moved from class to class and school to school until we moved and the new school district had a different philosophy. I was the lost cause. The world did not see what I was capable of.
The new district moved me around a lot too but this time it was for very different reasons. They started me in a school away from all my siblings on the other side of town that had a 12-1-1 class. Quickly they determined that I needed to be more challenged and said, “the child on these papers (from the other school records) is not the same child we have in this classroom. “ So they moved me into an inclusive education class in the same school where I did so well that I was able to join my siblings the following Fall in their school where I flourished.
Karate had been instrumental in my self-confidence. Yet I was still struggling in a class of 40 students and just wandered around when we had to work independently. The instructor said I needed to find something else because Karate was not for me. I went to three different martial arts schools to check out their classes after that. One had me doing push-ups right away and it was hard. One of the senseis got on the floor next to me and did them with me. This was to become my new dojo and my martial arts family.
For the next several years and through hard work and tears I struggled with the high caliber of training and expectations at this dojo. I begged to quit many times. I cried the whole ride there and the whole ride home. They did not let me wander, or sit out when I was frustrated. They did not allow me any excuses. I was not the autistic kid in the class to be pandered to. I was held to the same standard and began to hold myself to it in the dojo and in the rest of my life.
I began at Everage World Championship Karate as an orange belt. I was devastated at my 1st awards ceremony at the new dojo when they had me come up and presented me with: an Orange Belt. They said I have earned that belt rank to THEIR school’s standards. It was the single most humbling moment of my life and set the stage: I needed my Green Belt now. I was competing at tournaments and winning. I earned my Green, followed by Blue Belts, and was given the opportunity to compete in a regional tournament in the state of Ohio. I received a silver and bronze medal, which allowed me the chance to compete at the national level in Michigan. There I won a bronze medal and earned a place on the World Karate Commission United States Team! I was amongst 200 martial artists across the country that represented the USA at the world competition. I was a blue belt and was in the ring with a 3rd-degree black belt from Wales. Each time he kicked me across the floor with a powerful blow to the head and I got back up, the whole crowd from the United States was cheering my name. Even though I was losing, bad, I never gave up and that was just as important to the audience and my senseis as winning. I took that lesson with me.
In school, I have learned to advocate for myself and have asked to take my exams with the other kids in the gym, not in a special quiet room. I asked to ride the standard bus when I started high school and refused priority seating. I lobbied to be in more inclusive classes and maintained my grades with less support. The kid that was kicked out of elementary school and was listed as a problem child is now a National Honor Society member who has made consecutive Honor Roll since middle school. Recently I had an eight-hour test in front of many esteemed and revered martial art senseis and earned the title of sensei and first dan black belt. Someone told me to give up but I didn’t. Autism is a part of my life, but it has never stood in the way. I have been surrounded by people whose voices and support have quieting the naysayers that tried to convince me I was not good enough. I have been accepted into a world-renowned Technical Institute and will use these experiences to continue to challenge the low expectations others have had of me and continue to soar beyond them all as the “ Kuji” that has always been me.
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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, 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.
