Getting diagnosed at the age of 14 wasn’t easy. Being told that my normal wasn’t “normal” went as well as you could think. The root of my denial was being afraid of the stigma that came with the disorder. I didn’t think that I would be able to make new friends or be able to function well enough to have a job. Since then I’ve had four different jobs.

My favorite one was working in the athletic department at my previous college. Of course, there were days when I didn’t feel like getting up or I was so irritable that I couldn’t deal with people. But for some reason that job was the reason why I got up or why I wanted to deal with people. I had so much fun cheering on classmates or even students I never met before but had seen around campus. Also made some new friends along the way.

Overall the experience taught me that the “stigma” means nothing unless you let it. 4 years later I was able to conquer my 14-year-old’s fears and be able to break my stigma about the disorder and be able to function the way I wanted to. Acception was the key to my success because it made me realize I needed to build the person I wanted to be instead of what the disorder was molding me to be.