Real life stories: Brandon’s story of living with autism

Brandon is an American who I met online. He’d like to share his story with you.

“Hello my name is Brandon Mclaughlin. I am a 22 year old man with autism.

I like doing a lot of things such as working with all types of animals and playing video games. I may seem like a very normal person but I’m not. For a large majority of my life I have masked myself from others and myself so that I could fit in and not be judged by others for being different. Just because I am autistic doesn’t mean I’m any different from the next person. Sure I may not have good communication skills but that just means I have to work harder at it.

I have spent a lot of my life in facilities and group homes and soon forgot what the “normal world” was. Along the way I have paid close attention to others who are struggling so that I can use how they have struggled and how they overcame it and use that information to attempt to help others who are struggling. I have learned that you can’t carry the whole world on your shoulders and as someone who has done that for years on end it is hard to say that but I had to realize that you can’t save everyone from themselves.

My Facebook profile picture is that of a dragon with the autism colors. I use that picture to show my courage and strength while also saying that I have a disorder. Just because someone says that because you are something or have something that you should be labeled as something that you don’t like but they say symbolizes what and who you are.

I have gotten my GED [the American High School equivalency diploma] back in 2017 and I am very proud of that as most people I have met who have autism would struggle with such a task. I’m not saying that all people with autsim would struggle getting their GED.

I’m very friendly overall and love to make friends. I don’t stand for racism or decharacterization of any kind because no matter what we are all human and we all bleed the same regardless of what other might say.

Remember that your voice is what truly matters even if it seems like no one is listening someone somewhere had heard you.”

A note from Patsy:

Like Brandon, many of my clients enjoy gaming.

Here are some recent comments from teens that I support:

“Gaming saved my life during shielding.”

“I love my PS5 as there, I can avoid the real world where it scares me… I’m in a world where I’m free to be me. I don’t feel socially awkward as I do in the real world, where I’m lonely and get things wrong.”

I’ve recently come across Spectrum Gaming, an online community for autistic people who have a shared passion for gaming. It offers teens the chance to chat via Discord and a shared Minecraft Server. One of the teens I support is trying it out this week, I’ll let you know how he gets on! If you know of any other safe gaming spaces for children with autism, please send me an email!

An image of a dragon in colours related to autism

 

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