Hello my name is Andrea and I am 23 years old. In 2012 at the age of 21 years old, I was diagnosed with having "high functioning Autism/Autistic Disorder". I set up an awareness event called "Art For Autism", an event in which I went to various highschools, and also accepted various donations of arts and crafts that were sold and show cased to the public, and all the money raised went to Autism Ontario. I have been heavily involved with Autism Ontario, especially since my case worker from CMHA first got me connected with them. My sister and relatives all suspected that something was there when I was younger, and even though my mom and dad saw something, I was never taken to get assessed. Many of the signs were there, some of which included: extreme difficulty with eye contact, difficulty reaching my mile stone of walking (did not start walking till I was 15 months old), repetitive behaviors and very extreme reactions to change, sensitive to sensory stimuli like sounds, etc. At the age of 12 I had a vocabulary/word spelling/understanding of words assessment, where it was a list of 50 words to spell. The first word was kindergarten level and the words increased in difficulty till they were university level. I did so well, that my results in the assessment said that at the age of 12, I had the vocabulary and spelling capability of a university student, and that if i had Autism, this would be considered a "savaunte". I struggle with communication and social cues, and interpreting emotional cues. However, my family and friends have been incredibly patient with me so for that I am grateful. I use art and have a blog in which I largely use to communicate, because I find it hard to verbally express myself. I describe it as my mind is a washing machine, my thoughts are the clothing, and as the machine is going full cycle, it feels like the door of it keeps being opened and closed. ASD is hard but it does not define me. Ever.

Andrea
London, Canada