The Opportunity of Education

 

The Opportunity of Education

I'm actually so in awe and somewhat stunned at the good stuff in my life as a result of the opportunity of education. 

Education and the chance to be a contributing member of society was like a candy store with me on the outside looking longingly in. 

Access to mainstream education or even higher education for autistics like me is hard-won as I was never expected to go to college due to the fact of my disability seen as "too-disabled", despite living in a school district where most students were on auto track from childhood to go to top schools.  

I moved from special education (till grade 8) to charter school where I was able to access mainstream education. The road to college meandered through SJCC. I highly recommend Community College first as it is a smaller less overwhelming environment where you can get used to college expectations before plunging into a vast university; like a transition phase. Then it was UC Berkeley, and now Vanderbilt. 

Of course ed is far from an easy journey even with ADA disability accommodations. I have to work that much harder and put in many many more hours compared to the typical peers in my classrooms. Part of the motivation is that I love knowledge and want to keep learning and learning. Even with this opportunity, I know my experience will never be the same college experience that my typical peers will get to enjoy (especially the social parts). But whatever (little) parts I got to enjoy, I really enjoyed. How many peers have the patience to wait to have a slow paced conversations with you.