This guest post is by Imani Bunton, a young woman who was diagnosed with autism at 5 and plans to attend Iona University. Imani 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.
Being born and growing up in Philadelphia allowed me to gain support academically but caused me to feel isolated from my peers. Feeling misunderstood by others caused miscommunication, which made it difficult to break out of my comfort zone and try new things. Learning who I am now and understanding that being on the spectrum does not have to be initially negative has helped me empathize with others who may feel like I did. I want to create a safe space for children to learn, heal and grow.
I’ve had to deal with the challenges of autism by overcoming the many stigmas attached to it. Such as being on the same pace as a “normal” child in school and social activities I’ve had to work twice as hard as my peers to maintain the same academic standards. I’ve had to study more through outside tutoring sources, sacrificing a social life for my school career. I was unable to attend social events where I could be with my own peers just so I could succeed academically.
I’ve struggled with maintaining an organized time schedule of when I need to get work done and my anxiety doesn’t allow me to focus on tasks like other people. Though I am determined to not let that stop me, and I always think ahead about my goals, and how I am going to achieve them.
Autism is a wide spectrum and sometimes people only focus on those that are low functioning. People that are higher functioning often get overlooked. They feel that if you’re high functioning you don’t struggle. We struggle in different ways that are invisible.
Autism is typically seen as a bad thing and people tend to look for where you lack instead of where you are capable. As a person of color, female, and someone on the spectrum, the odds are stacked even higher against me. However, through help and a determined mind I do not allow myself to be deterred.
While I’m different, I’m not less, and I continually break down stigmas to get my foot in the door in life. Being accepted into seven of my choices for school is an accomplishment that some people who are not on the spectrum have not achieved.
I want to become a psychologist to understand even more the complexities of the mind. I want to understand how the mind works in relation to our environments. I believe that no matter what environment you come from you’re still capable of learning. I went through the negativity and self-doubt but have overcome that and proud of my accomplishment of acceptance to seven colleges. From feeling like I wouldn’t get into college to being able to pick is truly my best accomplishment. It shows me that the hard work I did in school actually paid off. I’m looking forward to learning more as I matriculate through college so my personal experience and professional experience will match. That one day I’ll be able to come back and help other students like me.
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.
