Personal Narrative: How Autism Changed My Life

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I began interacting with people who have disabilities from a young age. My older brother of seven years has Autism, my cousin has multiple developmental diagnoses, and second cousin has Autism as well. I never saw these people as their disability but as my relatives who functioned and lived life differently than I did. This point of view changed when a few members of my church pointed out the “bad thing” about them. This event led me to question God for the next 11 years of my life. By senior year of high school I began to see that having a brother with Autism as a gift from God. I began to learn all the things by brother was capable of doing and the love he showed for others. The disabled population was always an interest of mine even during …show more content…

During one of the assignments, I went to an agency that works with getting people with disabilities jobs that are long term. One thing that stood out the most was when she said, “All it takes for our clients to get them the job is to have the employer change a few aspect of the work environment. Some employers don’t want to go through that change. That is where we step in and show them how our clients can be great candidates for the job but the employer’s need to meet us in the middle.” After hearing this I knew that this was another drive for pursuing to work with people who have disabilities. The past two summers during break I work at a group home with adults who have various developmental disabilities. All six of them hold part-time jobs within the local community. A similar struggle I saw with them was having employers understand they needed to make adjustments to their workplace. After the employers made the adjustments needed, the residents excelled in their job. In these two situations, a lot of advocating was done but most employers were glad that they made the adjustments they …show more content…

Due to us being made in his image everyone is different as there are different parts to God. Disabilities are not a punishment from God. Disabilities are seeing God’s work and potential in a different light. We are called to love God and to love our neighbor. If we are to love God we must also love our neighbor whether they look like us, act like us, think like us or not. When Jesus resurrected and was proving his authority, he showed people his scars. Jesus showed the people that he still had the holes from the nails. A reason that could be behind this is because our disabilities are parts of us that make us unique. Disabilities whether born with or acquired are a part of us but it makes us who we are. John 9:3 ESV says, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life.” In everything that we do the glory goes back to God. Everyone has been gifted with special talents that bring glory to God. Having a disability is not hindering from spreading God’s love, it only increases

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