This guest post is by Jonathon Morton, a young man who attends Arizona State University. He is an advocate for the Spring 2025 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 the Next Chapter: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams was released on Amazon on 3/25/25 and looks at the lives over 75 Autistic adults. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go back to supporting our nonprofits many initiatives, like this scholarship program. Check out the book here.
Growing up on the autism spectrum was far from easy. My parents enrolled me in the Capitol School of Austin from age 3 to 5 because I had a speaking delay and had frequent outbursts of screaming and acting out. The school has masters degree speech therapists as teachers to help kids like me with strategies on how to speak. The school was impactful in helping my parents and me try to create a more normal life by going on outings like the library and zoo while also receiving speech, occupational and physical therapy services. The Capital School gave me the tools so that I was able to enroll in a standard public kindergarten which my parents were not sure was possible. Overcoming obstacles was something we learned to do as a family often. Ever since elementary school, I didn’t fit in with other kids and kept to myself. I didn’t have an easy time making friends because of ASD and was excluded from a lot of activities. I have felt different and out of place. Every time I have a conversation with someone, I feel like I’m a step behind and am out of touch with them. I’ve felt like I think differently than everybody else and am often-times hindered by that. I don’t comprehend things the same as other people, so when I am trying to say my mind, my words come off wrong and are not understood. Every time I have a conversation with someone, I feel like I’m a step behind and am out of touch with them; I started to miss out on a lot of things that the other kids were doing like sleepovers. I kept to myself; however, my parents and therapists continued to work with me and reiterated the ways to connect and interact. Slowly over time I created friendships with a few friends and started having play dates. I am reminded often that its quality friends versus the quantity of friends that is important.
During high school, I had the opportunity to enroll in an organization called Apogee Adventures. They are a summer camp that takes small groups of teens backpacking in different areas of the world. I had the opportunity to go to Estes Park CO, Yosemite CA, and Denali National Park in Alaska. Apogee’s goal is to create community and confidence and that is what it did for me. I found my independence and a community where I felt like I belonged all while dealing with many challenges. They helped me interact with the other kids and have fun with them. I felt like I was just a kid rather than an autistic kid. Going to Apogee helped me with the struggles of ASD. I got to work together with people and have fun in the wilderness. It made me believe that I was just a little different than others and that I am just like everybody else. It changed my perspective that I have towards my diagnosis and made me realize that there was power behind my different perspective.
Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue a post-secondary education. Help us continue to help students with autism go to college by making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit here.
Also, consider having Kerry, one of the only professionally accredited speakers on the spectrum in the country, speak at your next event by sending him an inquiry here. If you have a referral for someone who many want him to speak please reach out as well! Kerry speaks with schools, businesses, government agencies, colleges, nonprofit organizations, parent groups and other special events on topics ranging from employment, how to succeed in college with a learning disability, internal communication, living with autism, bullying prevention, social media best practices, innovation, presentation best practices and much more!
