Jaylon V. ONeal - Autism: In My Own Words

AUTISM : IN MY
OWN WORDS

JAYLON V. ONEAL

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2013 by Jaylon V. ONeal. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 01/22/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-0920-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-0918-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-0919-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013901155

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Contents

To my mother, who is my rock, sword and shield and to all the people who ran, backed out and thought that I would never amount to anything

My mom would always tell me:

Son, I would never tell you anything wrong.

And she was right because on September 30, 2011, my sweet 16 th birthday, the truth was finally revealed to me. I received the best birthday gift ever. She sat me down like she often did and said with concern in her t one :

You are autistic.

It was like a mountain of burden had been lifted off of me. I was finally free. Free of all the uncertainty, doubt and shame that came with the sixteen years of bondage. I knew what autism was because I had researched it years ago. My mom turned me on to the movie Rain Man and it became one of my favorite movies. (Go Figure). The character Raymond Babbitt played by Dustin Hoffman captivated me and I wanted to know more. I tend to thoroughly research things that Im interested in and Raymonds photographic memory resonated with me. I could look at a periodic table once and chart it exactly. I could recite a sonnet without preparation. Raymond repeats himself as a tape recorder would, but I repeat my sentences because I believe they sound better the 2 nd time. I sometimes wish I could be Raymond Babbitt because he had no sense of love or emotion and in this world; you need a suit of armor to protect you from the land of the ignorant and home of the fearful.

September 30, 1995. That was the day I was born. Before that moment, no one knew me, my capabilities or what I was destined to be. That day went down in history as the greatest day of my moms life. After 15 hours of labor, she delivered a healthy baby boy. She named me Jaylon after the famous (now retired) basketball player Jalen Rose and from that day forward, I was known by the name of Jaylon Vishawn ONeal, but that wouldnt be the only name that I would be called.

At a very early age, my mom told me that I didnt process information the same as everyone else and that it was their problem if they didnt understand me. She noticed very early that I wasnt like other kids so she took me to several doctors in hopes that they could find the answer. It turns out that in their mind, I was a lost cause. No one could figure me out. She also had doctors tell her that I was never going to be an intelligent person or I was never going to be like everyone else. It hurt my mom to realize that these doctors that she believed was going to help had little faith in me. Thats when she made her move.

My mom got a piece of brown cardboard and drew and colored all the things that I should know. She drew a house and labeled House under it. She drew a tree and labeled Tree under it.

She colored all of the colors on the board and labeled under them the corresponding name for that particular color. She wrote all the letters of the alphabet and numbers one thru fifty and their names on the board.

We worked on that board every day for hours. She was convinced that I would succeed no matter what.

At age 3, my mother, grandma and I moved from Chicago to Georgia. Ive lived in Georgia for 13 years now and Ive spent all of those years trying to find out the answer to my universal questions:

Why dont people want to be around me?

Why do people treat me differently?

Why am I the odd person out?

Why cant people understand who I am?

Its because of questions like these that made me become a loner. I didnt have many friends; Ive never had a girlfriend or even graced the list of a party invite. Life for me was very lonely. I felt insecure and became very antisocial. It was easier that way. I was the type of person that you would just say Hi, Goodbye, or have to get serious with. The thing about me is I would always perceive things differently, so I wont always see eye-to-eye with people at times. For example, when people tell me a joke, it would take me a minute to actually realize what that joke meant. Also, when people are trying to tell me things, they need to be direct and not beat-around-the-bush with the information because otherwise, I may get thrown off and not get what theyre saying.

Another thing is people may not want to be around me because of the way that I act and how silly I get at times. I mean, I know when to calm down and be mature around others, but I end up taking it to the extreme when I have fun. I like to be around people that actually want to be around me and for years that has been a fine few. After seventeen years of living on this Earth, I have realized that the only life that I can control is my own, but to judge me without knowing me is a disservice to me. I cant make anyone understand my struggle but I know that having this disorder has strengthened my character and made me a better person.

Ok, here are a few things about me that you should know. I love playing video games with a passion! One of my favorite games is Call of Duty . I play Call of Duty with my friends online on my PS3 and we have fun every time. I like to dance, rap, draw, write, speak publicly and I hope to become an actor/rapper one day. My favorite food is chicken, my favorite beverage is Sprite and my favorite dessert is chocolate cake. I like to listen to Old School Music because rap today isnt what its used to be. One of my favorite television shows is Married with Children. I watch that show every morning before I go to school. I love that show so much because its funny and the scenarios that the family get into in every episode are hilarious!

One of my favorite movies is The Back to the Future Trilogy. In my opinion, the Back to the Future movies is hands down, the best sci-fi movies ever created. I can watch all 3 of the Back to the Future movies over and over again and never get bored. I also say that Michael J. Fox is one of the best actors that Ive ever seen.

Also, I am a huge Michael Jackson fan. I listen to all of his songs, watch all of his videos, performed all of his dance moves, etc. The 1 st song that got me hooked to him was Beat It . When I first heard it, I played it over and over again until I got the entire song stuck in my head. From then on, I was just trying to be Like Mike. It made me real depressed when he died. That tore up my whole world. I felt like I died with him. I realized what the phrase You dont know what you have until its gone meant because never in a million years would I have ever imagined that he would be gone. That made me realize that life is precious and shouldnt be wasted. He made his mark in history and this is where I make mine. It all started when I was four years old.