This guest post is by Grant Sholl, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with Asperger’s at the age of 9 and has been accepted into the University of Memphis. Grant 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.
My name is Grant Sholl. I just turned 18 as of writing and am (hopefully) on my way to college. I really like video games and parrots, and have a soft spot for charity work. I’ve had to work with my high-function autism my whole life, and this is about how I grew up on the spectrum.
“Look me in the eyes. When you’re talking to someone, look them in the eyes.” A phrase I used to hear a lot. Little did I know, this would be the first hurdle in a long and arduous journey that has and likely will span my whole life. It started as soon as I said my first word, but I knew I was in it for the long haul once I was told what (formerly named) Asperger’s syndrome was. It can affect aspects of life such as coordination, social skills, thinking, glucose intolerance; I could go on for a while.
The most impacted part for some is the social aspect. I have trouble conveying my thoughts and such. It took a lot of remembering and practice to get where I am now. For starters, I, of course, had to look people in the eyes. It is an important way of conveying that you care about what someone is talking about. I have trouble with this for reasons I myself do not understand. However, through brute force and a strong will, I managed to look those I talk to in the eyes. It was uncomfortable at first, but it was a big step in making it further in my social life.
Another challenge was learning simple tasks. I could not easily pick up cues and such to do things, so I would often need specific instructions in order to complete it. However, once I knew them, I would be set. You can not just tell me that something is on the counter; it is on the counter next to the lamp, or in the drawer next to the dishwasher. Otherwise, it can take a frustrating amount of time to get it. This has led to many awkward situations and I apologize to those affected by them in the past. Maybe I should clarify things for my own sake more, but I learned quickly that people do not like repeating themselves.
One of my greatest weaknesses is how I handle pressure. I often feel alone and like it all depends on me to fix something or right a wrong. I did not ask for help, and when I had it, I kept my mouth shut just to have another chance to throw myself at my issues and inevitably fail again. Eventually, I decided to actively reach out to others around middle school. My schoolwork was still not easy, nor was overcoming emotional hardships, but having someone else there helped me step back, analyze, and tackle almost anything that came my way. I would like to thank those people if they ever read this. They know who they are.
Today, I am doing a lot better for myself. Decent grades, chasing scholarships, so on and so forth. My training wheels are about to come off and we will see if what I learned has worked. I am worried about my future, but know that I have the experience of those who care about me to push me forward.
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.
