Mga Subtitle (30)
0:10hi I am Abby I was diagnosed with autism at Age
2 and a half life with autism has been very hard
0:18I want to start by telling you what it was
like when I was younger when I was 3 years
0:22old I had something called ealia where you have
no connection to words and just repeat things you
0:28hear one day my mom asked me what would you like
for lunch hot dogs or peanut butter and I said
0:35hot dogs or peanut butter then I went to school
and I didn't talk to the other kids because I
0:41didn't know how and I sat alone it was almost
like I didn't see them because of the way my
0:47mind worked and I put everything in my mouth
they called my mom up and said they couldn't
0:52guarantee my safety so I was not allowed to go
to preschool unless I had nid I had a teacher
0:58named Miss Beverly she didn't didn't understand
autism she didn't want to learn about autism and
1:03wasn't willing to learn about how some kids like
me are different we learn different we hear things
1:08differently and sometimes we have to move around
a lot Miss Beverly wanted things the way she had
1:14always done them like for example Beverly would
ask the kids to line up she had all the girls
1:20line up then all the boys then at the end of the
boy line she made me line up with my Aid because
1:25I was different this made me feel uncomfortable
and very sad feeling like I don't fit in feeling
1:31left out and wishing I was like everyone else and
I wish my brain would do what I was telling it to
1:36do in elementary school I was more aware of the
other kids and that I was different it was hard
1:42to talk to the other kids because I couldn't get
the words out sometimes my words would get stuck
1:47and then the other kids didn't want to talk to
me because I couldn't answer and I had a hard
1:52time focusing and staying on topic this made me
very sad and I became jealous of typical kids
1:57because they could do things that I couldn't this
is when I learned to identify with Ariel Ariel was
2:04a mermaid living in a world alone she wanted to be
with the people and when she finally became human
2:09she couldn't talk that's how I felt I felt very
isolated and alone that is why mermaids and Ariel
2:17are still important to me today Ariel says I want
to be where the people are and she says I want to
2:25be part of that world this was exactly how I felt
too finally something that made me feel connected
2:33to the outside world I felt like I was Ariel today
I have had 22 years of speech therapy and social
2:40skills to learn to have conversations today and I
never gave up when I think back about those times
2:46it makes me remember how alone I was and how I
was not part of the world I have to remember who
2:51I am today it's like when Mufasa says to Simba
remember who you are I can't think of anything
2:59that means means more to me than feeling like part
of this world without friends you really can't do
3:04that and just because some people need to practice
more than others that's okay we are all different
