This guest post is by Andrew Morrison, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with PDD at age 3 and has been accepted into Northwestern State University. Andrew 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.
When I was a small child, I was diagnosed with autism. It is not something that has stopped me from accomplishing what I want to do. I have had many struggles that I have had to overcome. To increase my social skills, I participated in soccer to learn how to work with a team and of course how to have fun. I have made some of my best friends from soccer. I struggled in school so I had to work harder to get good grades but even with help I struggle on major tests such as the ACT. I attended speech therapy and received academic interventions throughout all of my school career. I was not raised to think I had a disability or was any different from any other student. I am not afraid to ask for help when I need it.
The biggest obstacle in life for me with having autism is trying to fit in with life. I don’t know how other people with autism feel about what is holding them back, but I do know what is an obstacle for me. Being able to be normal and a calm person in the world as I’m getting older is difficult enough. The main obstacle I face every day is to always be normal every day, always having control and always wanting to learn more in school and in general life.
When I was younger I was a completely different person from what I am today. When I was young I had no control and always was a crazy kid. Always doing dangerous things in life and mainly just risking my life through all I have done throughout the years. Yet as time passed by I became more calm and controlled and able to know the danger of the world and how most of the world is unsafe.
When I learned I was diagnosed with Hemophilia B that’s when I had to look into my life and see how I need to be careful in life. Since I have autism it was hard for me to socialize with other people even with my parents when I was young. Every day I always try to be a socializing person with my friends and family and always try to be a good person in life and always be with others.
The more as time changes I change as well from my personality and my spirit always changing from what it once was to now. I would look back at what I was before seeing a kid without any worries about the world and always alone and scared. Now today I look forward to what the future holds for me ready to deal with what comes next.
I’ve overcome obstacles with autism over time. The biggest obstacle, in my opinion, that is holding people back from autism is socializing with others. It was the hardest part for me when I was growing up with autism and it’s happening to others. People wouldn’t know what to talk about and be able to know what to do in a conversation.
When I found my group of friends I learned we all have the same favorite genre of things and I have learned that these people like the same thing and I’m able to know more of them and able to socialize with them and other people better from my group of friends. The world it feels like can be a scary place for people with autism at times. People do have different obstacles to them, but the biggest obstacle is socializing with people. It’s the hardest thing not knowing how to socialize properly and communicate with other people.
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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.
