Talent is never very far away from you if you only take the time to look around. Sometimes it may be rather obvious, such as when somebody is a performer and they inspire millions of people with their ability to sing, dance, act or perform in any other way. Others may not be quite so easy to see but when you stop to think about it, all of us have something that we could contribute if we just dig down deep and search for it. At times, there are people who come from nowhere and accomplish great things.
That is the case with a man named Kerry Magro. When he was only two years old he was diagnosed with autism but there wasn’t very much that was known about the autism spectrum back then. He felt very isolated as a child and he had to find his own way through life for the most part. He was over three years old before he spoke and doctors were afraid that he would never have the ability to live a normal life or to even graduate from high school. When all was said and done, he was able to accomplish something that nobody thought possible.
Kerry is now 31 years old and he still can look back at all of the obstacles he has overcome. Not only did he graduate high school, he earned a doctorate degree and is devoting himself to helping other children who are going through the same types of problems. Those children need a positive role model so that they can be aware of their ability to accomplish anything they want to accomplish in life.
“Seeing someone in the media like myself growing up would have made a tremendous difference,” Kerry explained. “It would have given me more self-motivation seeing that I wasn’t alone.”
Kerry is aware that society has already come a long way, including Julia, the first Sesame Street character with autism. He is also doing what he can to help autistic children know that they are not alone, and he has done it with his first book, “I Will Light It Up Blue.”
In the book are twins, a boy and a girl named Doug and Emma. Both of them are on the autism spectrum but Doug is highly functioning while his sister is nonverbal and communicates with an iPad. It was important for him to have two different genders and different personalities as he was writing the book.
“I wanted to focus on a boy character and a girl character — even though boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism,” said Kerry. “I wanted to share the characteristics of a girl with autism in the hopes that people can recognize a girl who show signs of autism and make sure she doesn’t fall through the cracks.”
World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd was part of the inspiration for the title, “I Will Light It Up Blue”. It talks about how the brother and sister were able to help themselves but he also wants to educate other people about autism. He hopes that it will soon be in many homes and schools worldwide.
“The biggest motivator was to show how to be accepting of someone who is a little bit different,” Kerry stated. “If we are truly trying to be a society that focuses on inclusion, we have to make sure we are representing the community as it truly is.”
Kerry is a good example of how somebody took problems that they experienced in their youth and turn them into something that many others can use in their life.
Source: Inspire More
