Stories of Hope

My Healing Through Art

My name is Liz, and I am nineteen years old. I have Asperger's Syndrome. I am a college student, and I'm majoring in Fine Arts and will also be majoring in Psychology when I transfer to another college next year. I want to work with young children with autism and help them individually learn to express themselves through art. Art is a healthy means of self-expression, and has helped me give my autism a voice.

Art has helped me get through the worst of my eating disorder, and has helped me draw out my feelings and emotions when feelings were too difficult for me to express in words.

I learned how to make the best of my life and to take it day by day. I saw my conditions as obstacles – they were a part of me, but they didn’t define me. I was still misunderstood by others in tenth grade. In the beginning of eleventh grade, I got sick and tired of being judged, and misunderstood. So I thought to myself, “well, in order to help others, you need to help yourself”! I’ve always loved to draw, and started drawing a comic about my feelings and experiences with Asperger’s. I wanted to DO something. Something that would make a difference. Something that would help other people. People like me.

When I finished the comic, I showed it to several of my peers and teachers. This was a big risk for me, because I was opening my true self up to them, and feared being rejected… but they loved my comic! In fact, for the first time in my life, I felt truly understood. This opportunity gave me the confidence I needed, and I received several local awards and scholarships. I received the BOCES Make All the Difference Scholarship for spreading Autism Awareness in my local community.

Anime, my special interest, has really helped me connect with people, and anime has helped lead me to very great people that I still have connections with to this very day.

Thank you for reading!

Best Regards,

Liz Pritchard

Elizabeth Pritchard
Spencerport, NY

Identity: From crisis to mission

I'm 19 years old and on October 2012, I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, which later on was changed or deemed to be in conjunction with Asperger's Syndrome (though all PDDs will be collectively called Autism). Throughout my life, I've always felt like I was different since I had different interests from my peers, acted differently in relation to others, and was always considered either "smart", "quiet", "shy", "nice" or a mixture of that. I also happen to be gay, and since the age of 11, I've had to deal with the knowledge that I am this way while fighting the stigma that society, and even family, loaded on my shoulders. Of course now, I am mostly accepted and more importantly, do accept the fact and truth that there's no reason why I should ever want to change any aspect of myself for sheer comfort.

But with that knowledge already causing me to feel isolated, different, lonely, awkward, and shy.... just imagine how it felt to learn that I have Autism. Initially (the first day) I was in somewhat of a state of shock. Gradually as the weeks went by and I continued on with my therapy, I started to realize that Autism was the answer for why I act, think, and am different! Combine this with a growing sense of political change within (though very much short of extremism) and I realized that my mission would be to use my skill sets, in conjunction with my passion for helping others, to change the world for the better since I am at least radical enough to think this can happen!

Though right now, I'm attending a community college, I do know that one day, what I've faced in life could change the world. One day, I want to become an artist and change people's perceptions, a lawyer and change the people's law, an activist and change people's minds, the best that I can be because I think I do deserve only the best from at least myself! I just hope I keep up my 4.0....

But thanks for reading! :)

Christopher Fornesa
Sugar Land, TX

My Lovely Son

My son is 4 years old I have come to know that my son is autistic that was a shocking news for me . He was going to school from march teacher found he is not seems like other kids. He want to play alone he pays no attention in class room. Teacher told us he need special teaching system. There is a learning center for special kids in his school.We have talked Mr. Benoni Special educator in learning center.He has made some proggrame for my son . Now he is going to learning center and doing well. Mr. Benoni is doing a great job for all special kids. He treated those kids as their parent. Mr. Benoni is trying make a connection between special kids and school. Every school should open a special education center for special kids. I am trying to get him out from his own word ,hope he will come out from this situation.

Ranu
Manali, India

He Taught Me to Play in the Rain

I was frustrated when my 3 year old Autistic son ran outside this morning in the rain when I let the dogs out. It was as if Trey couldn't hear me yelling for him to come in.

Then I saw the complete happiness on Trey's face enjoying a simple pleasure of life. So I began to play in the rain with him until we were both drenched. As we were both laughing so hard, I realized he taught me something today.

Life with Autism is not easy... but there is so many things in our life to love!

Rhonda Conner
St. Charles, MO

My PDD-NOS Baby.

My youngest son has PDD-NOS and my oldest son has Asperger's. Life is interesting most days...
Hubby had 3 "perfect" daughters before blessed with our little man ( oldest from ex) so even 9yrs after diagnosis hubby still expects more than he can give. School is good, he's going into 4th grade. He is an extreme emotional child and a look will hurt his feelings to the point of tears. Some days are of course harder than others but I wouldn't trade either of them for a "perfect" child. Biggest problems are...eating anything healthy, he thinks if it's not pizza or chicken fingers that it must go away, arguing about every little thing and the emotional issues but we will continue to do the best we can. I pray for all of us in our daily struggles with our very special children. We were blessed with them for a reason.

Stacy
Brooklet, GA

My Bentley

My little man developed amazingly fast. Rolling over at 2 weeks, crawling at 4 months walking by 8 months, then all of a sudden at 18 months he stopped. Stopped eating stopped talking became very very fussy and wouldn't play anymore with other kids. Everyone mentioned autism or a hearing problem but I never believed my child could have autism. I was in gifted, went to college at 16, I just couldn't believe it. We enrolled him in First Steps early intervention in June of 2012 and he started school in August of '12. His teacher was the most amazing thing that ever happened to us. A year ago I thought he would never sing never talk and just felt hopeless. Now at 3 1/2. because of his amazing support system he sings various song clearly, tells you what he wants and needs. He is my little miracle and I will never stop helping him develop. We are very thankful for mrs Stacey Metz. God truly sends people into your life for a reason. I just thought I loved Bentley as much as I could, but now I love him even more. When he was formally diagnosed in march, I cried and fell into a deep hole of depression. I would just cry all day long at the thought of my child never being able to be normal. I think every parent has that grieving period. But now I see it for what it is, not a road block but just a detour. And we will get to where we are going eventually!

Victoria Greene
Hattiesburg, MS

Giving Back

I was diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism when I was 2 years old. Autism was not that recognized in the early 1990s. I've never understood why my social skills were weird in high school; I just couldn't fit in. Being in Band made me a shining star. I was in color guard and winterguard from grades 10-12. My GPA from high school was a 3.67. Central Arizona College was my next step and I loved learning about the real world. Graduated with my Associate's of Business degree with a 3.5 GPA.

In Fall of 2012, I decided that I wanted to learn more about different kinds of disabilities. Northern Arizona University has a great Speech-Language Pathology Assistance program so I chose that for my major. My favorite class so far is SLPA- Childhood Communication Disorders. I had the opportunity to observe at my local preschool for my assignment. Then, I discovered a flyer about their 1st Annual Special Olympics program. It was for preschoolers with disabilities that are in blended classes. I volunteered to teach the children how to dance; it was a lot of fun.

This December, I am going to graduate with my SLPA degree so I can help children, their families, and people change their lives. Always remember, you have a voice, no matter what. Do not let people bring you down.

Anonymous
Phoenix, AZ

My "Amanda Beans" Professional Dinosaur Expert

My wonderful daughter amanda is Ten years old, she is my angel in my sky.. she was diagnosed at age 3! she wasnt talking like she should. we got early help with her speech. She has been in public school since kindergarten. She is verbal. she loves animals, anything with nature. turtles.. she knows all the dinosaurs by name, what they eat. She stared running off last summer, she ran off 11 times. she eventually got over that stage.

She isn't potty trained yet. We have to fight this struggle ourselves as we dont have alot of family support. She is the light of our life. She has an older brother who is 14. We love her so much, her favorite thing to do is go to camp edenwood. My advice for any parents who are getting their child diagnosed, get as much support as you can early. Love your child as they are.

Jennifer
st louis park, MN

Finally an answer when he was an adult

My son has always been a source of joy and of questions. Charismatic when young - flashing smile, twinkling blue eyes, and blond curls - people were drawn to him. By school age I was seeing some things that made me question. He was bright, read early, no noticeable delays in any area. His vocabulary was phenomenal. But socially he struggled. He had sensory issues with his clothes and food. At 8 y/o I realized he didn't make eye contact. I thought he was lying to me. He wasn't. I had to decode eye contact and teach him how to do it. Our doctor just shrugged. There was no diagnosis of Aspergers at that time. He struggled socially all through school. He went into the Air Force but was asked to leave after 4 years because of social awkwardness. He ran into some serious problems at 32 y/o. In an effort to understand I began reading about Aspergers. I could check almost every box from the way he walks, talks, interacts, and his endearing naïveté. I had him evaluated and "bingo"! I am a counselor and have taught others professionals about adults with Aspergers. It doesn't go away! One professional actually told my son he couldn't have Aspergers because he made eye contact and was married! My son thanked him about the eye contact, stating "I work very hard at it." And I have learned the sad truth that a disproportionate number of individuals with autism are incarcerated for "crimes" that are more a misunderstanding of boundaries, or a result of obsessions that cross acceptable lines. I have tried to educate the legal system, but it is an uphill battle. In spite of it all my son is doing well and is happily married and a father of two: neither are Aspies.

Emilie McCartney Waddell Smith
Jenks, OK

This is My Bubbysaur

This is my son Brendan. Brendan is 4 years old and was diagnosed at the age of 3 with PDD-NOS. My wife and I noticed at at about 18 months old that he had hit a learning "wall". He would fade into his own world for hours at a time and didn't seem to respond to anyone's voice. We had friends and family ask us if he was deaf and tell us that he has a hearing problem of some sort. We knew that this was not an issue due to the fact he could hear a pin drop from across the room. As he got older around 2.5 years of age we were tossing back and forth the notion that our baby boy had Autism. We were in great denial and thought he would "grow out of it". He was enrolled in the Early Childhood Intervention program in our town and when he turned 3 years old was enrolled in the Early Headstart Program at a local school. He attends bi weekly speech therapy sessions and is progressing very well. He is up to 3-4 word sentences and is slowly being able to tell us what he wants without us having to guess his needs. Brendan just turned 4 in April and is going to be going to school "full time" from 8-2 everyday starting in the fall. He is a very spirited and loves doing art and constructing LEGO creations. Brendan loves water and is drawn to it. When we take a bath or go swimming he gets lost in the water and immerses himself underwater to get sound deprivation. He is HYPO sensitive and loves being touched and hugged as well as doing the touching and hugging. The picture above is from his first visit to the beach ever. He continues to amaze everyone around him everyday and is teaching our family and friends about autism. We love our Bubbysaur and will never give up and continue to learn about autism and our son.

Ben Steele
Abilene, TX