My mom's center was called Central Texas Autism Center (CTAC). This center did Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy and had kids of all ages from toddlers to adults. She had about 50 therapists working under her. I would often go after school or if I had the day off of school or in summers. When I was really young, I would go up and play in the "Big Room" which was a large room full of toys, a trampoline, a hammock swing, a ball pit, scooters, etc. This room was a big part of my childhood because it was where I played with a lot of kids growing up. I thought going to work was so much fun! The therapists would use me as an example of how kids play and interact. For example, a kid might have been scared to jump on the trampoline and they would use me to show them that there was no reason to be scared of it. I would show them how to jump and try to get them to jump with me. Another example is some kids weren't able to talk so I would model the word or the sign and prompt them to communicate using it.  I even took data sometimes. As I got older I began to understand more about Autism, not just the definition, but rather how it effects different people and how a person with Autism is just a person and not just a diagnosis. In this article, I want to share with you personal stories of how the personalities of these neurodivergent kids are so unique and special so that there is a better understanding of Autism. I will also provide resources to help with diagnosis or therapy if you know someone that has Autism or may have Autism.

One of my core memories of the center revolves around a kid that was about three years younger than me. He was one of my friend's little brother who was diagnosed with Autism. In this story, we will call him Carter. Carter was a quiet kid but his actions were loud. For a long time the only thing that would come out of Carter's mouth was the word air-conditioner and he grew obsessed with it. Every time we would pass an A/C vent he would have to point it out to us and we would also have to acknowledge it. So a big skill he had to learn was to talk about other things and accept no when we wouldn't talk about it any more. Carter was a very smart kid. He was really good with numbers and math but reading, asking for things and communication in general were trouble for him. One of his favorite things to do was to play with a multiplication table toy. He knew all his times tables at age 4! His mom even invited me over to play with him at his house so he could generalize what he was learning at the clinic.  I really enjoyed playing with him, he was really a cool kid. I'm happy to say that over the course of 2 years at my mom's center, he became conversational and interested in more variety of things. He learned to read and write and was able to enter public school in a typical classroom!

This next story is about a kid that was somewhat of an opposite of Carter. For this story, I'll call him Aaron. Aaron started off at the center with language delays and a lot of self-stimulatory behaviors. This is when you move your body in ways that stimulate your nervous system. We all have those, like some of us shake our leg while sitting or tap our fingers, but sometimes people with Autism engage in movements that may look odd like flapping their hands or jumping up and down or lining up objects. Aaron was a very talkative kid, he loved talking about Legos and dinosaurs and almost everything. When I would see him, he would always want me to either play on the trampoline or play legos with him which I would do. He liked to line things up and could be really rigid about it so one of my jobs was to not let him do that and show him different ways to play. Aaron invited me to his birthday parties and I truly considered him a friend. We had fun playing together. Aaron also went on to be able to go to his public school in a typical classroom with some supports.