This guest post is by Aaron Rhodes, a young man on the autism spectrum who was diagnosed with autism at 7 years of age and plans to attend University of Central Arkansas. Aaron 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.
My name is Aaron Everett Rhodes and I am a very talented musician who was born on the autism spectrum. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is the lowest part of the autism spectrum. It took a lot of work but I managed to be able to control challenges related to autism in a healthy way.
It was discovered that I had autism when I was around four years old and I was not able to speak to people. I went through a tough time growing up in the public school system and learning how to navigate society. One of the behavior specialists that tested me for autism said that “Aaron presented a complex behavior profile that is oftentimes seen in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. He displayed a pattern of differences in his development in the three key areas of: language and communication, social relationships and emotional responses, and sensory use and interests that characterize children with an autism spectrum disorder.” My life, while I was first learning to manage the difficulties associated with my diagnosis, was filled with challenges from social and educational perspectives.
Life was tough for me from an educational perspective. My autism led me to having a very odd learning disability that affected my reading comprehension. One of the education specialists that tested me for autism said that “Aaron’s greatest academic struggle was on the subtest Passage Comprehension where he had to read sentences and identify the missing word that should be in the blank. Aaron’s academic weakness on this standardized measure is still within his current grade level, but the score is unexpected as all other academic scores are above his current grade level.” According to my autism test, my full scale IQ was around 96 because of how my learning disability affected me. Another challenge I faced was difficulty with my handwriting. I was constantly at odds with some of my teachers because of difficulty with reading my writing. It took me longer to complete my assignments as a result and this was a constant struggle for me. I am fortunate that my school stepped in with a 504 which allowed me to use technology to assist. As I mentioned earlier, I also had a difficult time with reading comprehension. It is my belief my autism traits kept me from sometimes understanding deeper levels of literature. This is something I am constantly working on. Over the years, I was able to improve my own education by developing my own “tools” for managing my autistic symptoms. Now, I am doing very well in my education. Recently I took two online college courses and I finished them with an A for each class. According to my high school counselor, I was the first person from my high school to complete College Algebra. Also according to my high school counselor, I was one of the best students in Composition 1. These two statements demonstrate that I will persevere and that I have the ability to overcome the difficulties presented by my autism. I truly believe that, with assistance, I can achieve a worthwhile education.
Life has been somewhat challenging for me from a social perspective. Socially, I found myself alone much of the time while I was at school. I believe my autistic tendencies kept me from understanding how other people felt or what their reactions really meant which led me to having underdeveloped social skills. My inability to understand how other people felt led me to develop the idea that all of the other students disregarded me and had no interest in dealing with me. For example, when I was in first grade, I was always alone during recess because the person that was my friend at the time had other friends that they would hang out with. This struggle persisted until I joined the high school band. The band hall has always been a place where I could be myself and where others could relate to me. I continue to struggle with social anxiety but I believe my experience with band and with music is a great assistance.
Given my life experiences, I believe that my unique perspectives will help me to understand and inspire others. I hope to not only inspire others who face similar challenges, but to encourage all students who are growing, developing, and learning about themselves and how to navigate society. I believe that music is the best way to accomplish this and, with the help of my family, my community, and organizations such as this one, I truly look forward to a bright future in music education.
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.
