My name is Liz, and I am nineteen years old. I have Asperger's Syndrome. I am a college student, and I'm majoring in Fine Arts and will also be majoring in Psychology when I transfer to another college next year. I want to work with young children with autism and help them individually learn to express themselves through art. Art is a healthy means of self-expression, and has helped me give my autism a voice.
Art has helped me get through the worst of my eating disorder, and has helped me draw out my feelings and emotions when feelings were too difficult for me to express in words.
I learned how to make the best of my life and to take it day by day. I saw my conditions as obstacles – they were a part of me, but they didn’t define me. I was still misunderstood by others in tenth grade. In the beginning of eleventh grade, I got sick and tired of being judged, and misunderstood. So I thought to myself, “well, in order to help others, you need to help yourself”! I’ve always loved to draw, and started drawing a comic about my feelings and experiences with Asperger’s. I wanted to DO something. Something that would make a difference. Something that would help other people. People like me.
When I finished the comic, I showed it to several of my peers and teachers. This was a big risk for me, because I was opening my true self up to them, and feared being rejected… but they loved my comic! In fact, for the first time in my life, I felt truly understood. This opportunity gave me the confidence I needed, and I received several local awards and scholarships. I received the BOCES Make All the Difference Scholarship for spreading Autism Awareness in my local community.
Anime, my special interest, has really helped me connect with people, and anime has helped lead me to very great people that I still have connections with to this very day.
Thank you for reading!
Best Regards,
Liz Pritchard
Spencerport, NY
