My name is Liz Galt, I was diagnosed with autism when I was two years old. I didn’t talk until I was six years old and I wasn’t potty trained till I was eight years old. Not being able to talk was like being trapped in a duct tape maze. Each step in life was like having to pass levels in a video game just to find my voice, but eventually I did!
I was born with craniosynostosis when I was a baby and I had major reconstructive skull surgery performed; I didn’t have soft spots on my skull. They were closed, so they had to create soft spots for my head by cutting it open. I now have metal plates and screws all in my head. I have also had major kidney surgeries when I was a baby in addition to having to adjust my eye sockets. I was in the hospital for 3 months when I was born.
After all of this, my family then discovered I had autism. They picked up on the fact that I didn’t do normal stuff like the other kids my age did. I didn’t interact and socialize with my peers. I didn’t play with toys like the other kids my age did. I liked climbing on the counters and then lining up my toys and lining up hairspray bottles. I also was rocking back and forth and not making eye contact at all. Since then, I’ve had 10 different types of therapies to help with my autism.
Growing up with autism was full of challenges. I was in all Special Education Classes and I didn’t learn in the same way other kids did. Even though things were difficult for me, I was still learning. I was able to get my permit and get my driver’s license. I work really hard at being independent.
Some of my most difficult emotional moments were when I didn’t get invited to a school friends’ houses. I didn’t get invited to sleepovers or birthday parties. None of the kids asked me if I wanted to sit with them at lunch. I was bullied all my life when I was in school. I was pushed down a flight of stairs and somebody caught me and I had a textbook thrown at the back of my head. I had food thrown at me and rubber bands flicked at me, pencils thrown at me. You name it. Kids called me names like, ‘dead battery’ and ‘retarded robot.’ It was a running joke in school that I acted the way I did because my ‘batteries were running low’ because I repeated myself a lot. I also was called ‘rock head’ and ‘bone head’ at school because of my metal plates and screws inside my head. I also had my head banged.
During my senior year of high school, I lost my best friend, my mom. Kids seemed to understand the death of my mom more than they did my autism. School felt like a prison to me and I was so sad and angry that I wanted to drop out of school, but I never gave up. I made it through.
Not being included in things was a struggle for me growing up. People made fun of me for using my sensory toys, which to help me with my autism when I am feeling a sensory overload or when I am in large crowds. The toys help me from stemming and shaking. I also struggled with making conversations with people when I was in school, with people staring at me because I did things differently than others without disabilities. I also struggle with getting upset over little things. I often ask people, ‘Are you mad at me? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?’
I would like others to know that people with autism are unique just like everybody else. We are people too, just like everybody else. Autism affects your five senses; we use them differently than people without autism do. People with autism use sensory toys and sensory products because it helps them when they are feeling a sensory overload and when they are feeling overstimulated and overwhelmed. They help us from getting upset or scared. We are also visual thinkers and visual learners. We see things in pictures not words. A lot of people that live with autism don’t deal well with loud noises. They’re 10 times louder for people living with autism.
I see the world in pictures and living with autism in the real world can be scary sometimes. You don’t know what people are going to think and say about you. It is like multiple questions inside my head at all times. Living with autism is like living in 2 different worlds, the ‘disability world’ and the ‘real world.’ When you are in the disability world, you don’t feel scared because people understand you and won’t judge you or make fun of you. I feel safe around them. In the real world, however, most of that comfort is lost.
I got my permit when I turned 15; it took me 8 times to pass my permit test. I never gave up and I eventually passed. I got my driver’s license when I was 16 years old and I have driven for 10 years now. I also graduated from Farmington High School in 2012. I have lived in my own apartment since I was 20 years old. I have lived on my own for almost 6 years now and I am my own guardian. I pay all my own bills and I love being independent and being an adult. I love having my own freedom.