This guest post is by Kadin Crute, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with autism at age 3 and is attending Edgewood College. Kadin 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.
I hope you can support my nonprofit like I’m trying to support these students with scholarship aid for college. Learn more on how you can help our cause with a small donation (just asking for $3 today, equal to your daily cup of coffee) here.
At a very early age, I was attending ABA therapy as well as speech, OT, vision therapy, and social skills groups. I was also an EXTREMELY picky eater and had to do multiple therapies to help me eat (I was under the 10th percentile) when I was younger. Some of the biggest challenges growing up were handling unexpected changes, sensory issues (especially background noises!), I also have an auditory processing disorder which makes it hard for me to process verbal information. I also have several learning disabilities such as being dyslexic. It was a challenge because many of my other disabilities were delayed in getting diagnosed because everything was clumped under autism.
Despite all of the challenges I continued to persevere. My parents were strong advocates and never let autism get in the way of me trying new things. Growing up I participated in Cub Scouts, gymnastics, and acting classes, to name a few. I was determined to overcome my fears of eating and in addition to doing therapies that focused on that, I relied on friends for support and took cooking classes to learn more about food and how to cook. Now I am 6 feet tall so all my hard work paid off!
The biggest change in my life happened when I learned the power of advocacy. I use to not ask questions and did not want to draw any attention to the fact I was “different” but after I learned that EVERYONE has challenges and has things they struggle with, I learned how to be more confident and advocate for myself. Once I learned how advocating for myself not only got me the help and support I needed it also taught others about my needs and how they can better support the needs of people like me.
I also went through a local program called Yippe which teaches leadership and advocacy skills to people with disabilities this really taught me a lot and helped advance my advocacy skills. Now I actually help tutor/support kids in various classes at my high school with disabilities. They also rely on me to train new ushers at the movie theater I work at so not only can advocating help you get what you need it can also make you be seen as a leader!
One of my greatest joys is helping and supporting others. I have volunteered at our senior center and at a local preschool for students with autism. I also worked at our local Parks & Recreation program supporting kids in the Preschool In The Park program.
I was recently accepted into the Edgewood Cutting Edge Program in Madison Wisconsin. After completing this program I will have my para-educator certificate so that I can support children in the classroom.
I know there were dozens of people who helped, supported, and cheered me on growing up and I wouldn’t be here today without them. I look forward to going to college and getting a job in education so I can support students with disabilities like me and help them live out their dreams.
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 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.
