When I was a toddler, my parents knew that I had some delays. I had some language developed by age 3 but it was limited. In January 1997, when I was 42 months old, I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Then in the summer of 1997, I had an ABA therapy program that I took for at least 3 years. And then finally, early in 2001, I was diagnosed with meeting the criteria for Asperger's instead of autism. I always had educational assistants with me in elementary as I struggled a lot academically/had a hard time paying attention to instructions and details. I also had some behavioral issues for a good part of elementary which made the majority of my peers dislike me. I struggled to use my words and stay in control at times when people were frustrating me. All of these basic social skills that were easily picked up by the other kids at an early age, I struggled with. I did have some friends in elementary but I had a hard time keeping them. Most recesses between grade 6 and 8 were spent alone as I feared rejection a lot to the point that I let people come to me instead. High school didn't improve much at all socially, despite the fact that I got better grades in high school compared to elementary. I had almost no friends, and late in grade 9 I even walked with a limp that was significant enough for people to notice (I had anxiety with walking in general as at one point I had a hard time walking with a pair of shoes I had). My college life has generally been acquaintances at best (I used to go to Sheridan in Oakville Ontario), and I still have had some social issues in my early adult years, but I try to remind myself that if people don't like me, that it is their problem. Next year, I am going to be an Environmental Technology student at Fanshawe in London Ontario, and I also have an interest in meteorology.

Cory Morrison
Oakville, Canada