10 inspiring quotes from people with autism

This guest post is by Kerry Magro. 

Our kids with autism are going to one day be adults with autism. As a mentor to younger kids on the spectrum, one question I get a lot is about positive role models who are also on the autism spectrum within our community. All of the quotes below are from people with autism who’ve been able to inspire a great deal of hope. Today most of them speak about being able to overcome obstacles on the spectrum.

They include…

Temple Grandin:

Kids have to be exposed to different things in order to develop. A child’s not going to find out he likes to play a musical instrument if you never exposed him to it…

Stephen Shore:

If you’ve met one individual with autism, you’ve met one individual with autism.

Kerry Magro:

Autism can’t define me. I define autism.

Erin McKinney:

Our experiences are all unique. Regardless, I do believe that it is important to find the beautiful. Recognize that there is bad, there is ugly, there is disrespect, there is ignorance and there are meltdowns. Those things are inevitable. But there is also good. 

Anthony Ianni:

At the end of the day, we don’t dream our lives…WE LIVE THEM!

Amy Gravino:

I believe that inside every person who is bullied there is a strength and a tenacity to survive. You don’t always know that this strength exists, but if you make it through those dark times, you become aware. You become a survivor, someone whose courage and spirit is far stronger than all of the hate and cruelty of their bullies. The one thing that I want to impart to children with autism is knowledge of their own inner strength, and the belief that one day at a time, they, too, can get through this.

Scott Lentine:

Wanting to be free. Wanting to be me. Trying to make people see. And accept the real me.

Rachel Barcellona:

Everyone has a mountain to climb and autism has not been my mountain, it has been my opportunity for victory.

Dani Bowman:

Anything Is possible! If I can do it, so can you!

Haley Moss:

I might hit developmental and societal milestones in a different order than my peers, but I am able to accomplish these small victories on my own time.