Introduction

 Hello,

My name is Mary Minton. I’m 24 years old. At the age of 14 I was diagnosed with Aspergers(Autism Spectrum Disorder). As a child I was viewed as “the bad kid”. I went through many wrong diagnoses such as oppositional defiant disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and my personal favorite “just a bad kid”. 

Right before my 14th birthday I was placed in a therapeutic foster home. My parents tried every resource possible but it was to no avail. While at the therapeutic foster home I got priority psychological evaluations which led me to the diagnoses of Aspergers. After one year of being at the foster home  I was able to return home with my parents.

After I returned home I began to see my current therapist. She was the first therapist who helped me understand why certain things are so difficult for me. She has helped me through high school, college, and now adulting.

One of my fondest memories is my college experience. I attended Lenoir-Rhyne University. There is one professor that speaks volumes to me. She was a former public education teacher whose favorite students she taught had Aspergers. She helped me through the challenges I had all 4 years of college and now into adulthood. After I realized being a public school teacher was not my fit she suggested I search other jobs involving teaching. My senior year of college I ran across a RBT(Registered Behavior Technician) job. It really sparked my interest. A RBT works under a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analysis) under the principles of ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis). I was able to impact and help improve the quality of life of children with autism while doing ABA. I was a RBT at 2 different companies from 2019-2021. In 2021 I had the opportunity to leave the clinic and use my ABA knowledge in the school system. I have always wanted to change and pave the world for those that have autism and often times those that have autism are forgotten about in public school. It took me two years and a roundabout way to get to where I want to be but here I am. 

The KEY to success for adults with Autism is a strong support team. At each phase in my life I added more people to my core team. They’ve helped me grow, learn, adapt, and taught me to love myself. I’m now in a job doing something I was told I would never be able to do. Without my support team I would not be where I am at today. 

As a adult with autism the biggest challenge I face today is the fact that people have autism awareness but they don’t have autism acceptance. I’m determined to change the world and pave the way for people that have autism. This blog is to show the world what it is like to have autism, answer questions anyone may have, do blogs on specific topics, and to show the world what autism is like without sugar coating the challenges.