A poem I wrote after my parents told me I'm on the autism spectrum

Kerry Magro is an award-winning international motivational speaker and best-selling author who’s on the autism spectrum. A version of this blog originally appeared on Kerrymagro.com.

I was looking through old photos at my parent’s house and found a poem that I wrote after I was diagnosed with autism. Even though I was diagnosed with autism at 4, I wouldn’t find out about autism diagnosis till 11.5. I always knew I was special, but I didn’t know why. Then, one day after school, I decided to ask my parents why I was special. That’s when they told me about having autism for the first time.

I almost forgot about this poem completely but when I saw it I was brought me back to my early childhood in an instant.

The poem reads…

I have autism

I’m not broken

I’m not dumb

I have autism

I’m not always overwhelmed

I’m not always wanting to be by myself

I have autism

I’m different but different is okay

I’m unique and also have a unique perspective of the world that makes me special

I have autism

I’m the only person in my family to have this

I’m excited to make friends and for you to get to know me

I have autism and I hope you can accept me and others like me – We long to belong.

Thank you to everyone out there who helps our community. It means a lot.