Who Am I? By Mitchell, contributing blogger
Blog Post #2: Who am I? 2460-ONNNNNE!
If you get the joke, you get an internet cookie. If you don’t? It’s a reference to Les Miserables. Get used to some very, very dumb gags. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mitchell Lord, and I’m autistic. I’ll wait while you all say “Hi Mitchell.” Okay, you should be done by now. Anyway, now that I’ve gotten you interested in some stuff, I figure it’s time to explain where I come from.
I’m from your standard, upper-middle class family. My dad works for Big Pharm, my mom is a housewife. If you ever saw the movie “Fun with Dick and Jane” that about sums it up. We’re not RICH, but we make a living. I wanted for nothing. And…I was always…a bit different.
I tended to skip down the street, and I didn’t realize video games were fake. I kept wondering if I’d get to meet Megaman, or someone like that. I plotted making a dimensional gate to find Pokemon, and all. And…I couldn’t IMAGINE them not being real.
I was bullied in high school. A lot. And, while my grades were good, I…had trouble making friends. I had a few close ones, but even in those cases, I had trouble really connecting with them. I couldn’t understand when someone was using me, and when they really cared about me.
It wasn’t until college, that I really began getting what was different about me. I went to Mercer University, and it was a great place. My computer science teacher pointed out that I was similar to one of his favorite students…who was in a large thing on autistic people at Mercer. Sure enough, a lot of other things I went to said ‘Autism’.
My parents…didn’t agree. They told me the tagline ‘labels are disabling.’ Despite me saying, bluntly, that I liked the label, I wanted to look into it, they said no. When I tried to hit one of their other arguments, they changed their story. In the name of what was ‘best’ for me, they stomped on and ignored my wishes.
I ended college without a formal diagnosis, but informally, everyone knew. Even my teacher, who encouraged me to change careers at the last minute, as someone Autistic could never be a counselor. That ‘something’ that counselors need can’t be taught. My degree, and the five years of my life spent getting it…was worthless. Or, so it seemed at the time. That’s another essay.
When I got home? It was time to get a job, and become a functioning adult.
I failed.
Miserably.
My friends had all moved on to adulthood. And I was left behind. I didn’t know how to MEET new ones. Going to shops? Cost money. Everything…cost money.
A friend of mine let me live with him in Tennessee. Wraith…Joey Fanning, may have saved my life.
Wraith offered me help getting a real job, working at Pizza Hut, a place where people let me live how I wanted, and…someone to rely upon. Someone who, I hoped, would make my dreams meaningful.
He gave me a home, even if it was in a camper. So, no matter how much we disagree…I will always remember the good he did for me. And $200 is very good rent, right? No, seriously…I don’t know.
I also owe my Friend Scott Collier for it, as he drove me to Tennessee. Good guy. Check out his facebook. Bit Political, but he’s a great guy. https://www.facebook.com/scott.collier.1232
Sadly, that last part, with the dreams, wasn’t to be. I hoped to do writing for his webcomic, but that never went anywhere.
But…I accomplished something important. I gained self-sufficiency, and I gained confidence in myself. Furthermore? My parents started thinking of me as an ADULT. After about six months, I moved back to my hometown in Alabama…but not back home. My parents offered me a decent living wage, help trying to find a job, and more. I…don’t think Joey. forgave me for that, as he thought I was running away. He held it against me in a later argument.
I was, finally, on my path to becoming a fully functional adult. I’m gonna call it here. My next post is about my Road to Triumph and Tuscaloosa!
