This guest post is by Emilia Keane, a young woman who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 16 and has been accepted to St. Joseph’s University. Emilia 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.
“That’s my spot, You’re sitting in my spot!” Sheldon Cooper pouts to the canned laughter of his sitcom audience. The famous star of the Big Bang Theory is well-known for his self-centered and quirky perspective on many aspects of life, which gives the show much of its humor. Sheldon is often thought to have Asperger’s syndrome, or as it is now known, a person higher on the autism spectrum. However, his exaggerated actions and ideals for the sake of humor make for an extremely misunderstood stereotype for the real disorder. According to Sheldon, an autistic person is male, arrogant to the point of being unfriendly, and unable to interact normally with peers outside of work activities or peer-controlled parties.
Once upon a time, there was a bright, but struggling middle school student- forgetful, disorganized, and awkward to a fault. Though she participated in class, she often missed important social cues leading to long, embarrassing silences and many furtive side glances from her classmates. She had few friends. With frequent head and stomach-aches from overstimulation in school, the struggling student could never fully engage in extracurriculars like band. She was unhappy, lonely, and insecure without any clue to why.
That middle school student had undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder, the same disorder so often associated with Sheldon and the Big Bang Theory, and I was once her. In the present day however, neither the caricature of Sheldon’s autism or the toiling middle school student defines who I am. For one, I am female, a rarity among those on the spectrum with only around one girl for every four males with autism. For another, I have a plethora of friends among my peers, and have a rich and well-adjusted social life. Finally, I am heavily involved in multiple extracurriculars throughout the school year- independent like any other student.
My new identity started at the very beginning of high school, right before freshman year. Before summer had ended, I joined the school band and went to band camp learning how to march and perform in a field show for the football season. In the band, everyone was friendly, creative, and slightly awkward, and they became my people. Band became a gateway for that struggling eighth grade student. It was a threshold to a multitude of other extracurriculars and through it I learned the value of interaction and independence.
With renewed perspective, I learned that awkwardness both in and out of school was not part of my identity, but an obstacle to overcome. From this revelation, I reached out for help and received my diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Now, I could make use of a life coach who helped get my schedule and school work organized- leading to more consistent high grades than ever even through the Covid pandemic.
At the beginning of junior year, I took a leap of faith and auditioned for the school musical. With a little luck, I was able to get a lead role and as a result, my schedule became more hectic as classes became more demanding and difficult. Before, that struggling middle student would have cracked and spiraled from the onslaught of pressure. Now, however, I had gained the skills and the support of those in my life, and that made all the difference.
No longer am I defined by the stereotype of my disorder. I am no longer unhappy, I am no longer lonely, and finally, I am no longer insecure. I celebrate my autism and view my thirst for knowledge, creativity, and out of the box thinking as limitless superpowers to be used to create a better world. Now, unlike Sheldon, I can sit in any spot I want!
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.
