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  • Approved for CNN

    • Click to view wfrenchjr25's profile
    Posted April 3, 2012 by
    wfrenchjr25
    Location
    San Francisco, California
    Assignment
    Assignment
    This iReport is part of an assignment:
    Life with autism: Share your story

    More iReports you should see

    Without Us?

    By wfrenchjr25  |  Posted April 3, 2012  |  San Francisco, California
     

    CNN PRODUCER NOTE     wfrenchjr25, of San Francisco, is a video archivist and TV historian. He says television is his passion and is a student at the Academy of Art University. 'I am proudest of the fact that I have fought hard and survived through some extremely horrific experiences, including being close to death a few times,' he says. He would like the world to know that not everyone with autism has an intellectual disability. The 37-year-old embraces who he is. 'The fact that I can be my odd self and people around me simply accept it as part of my autism,' he says is his favorite thing about autism. 'I don't use it as a crutch, just as a reason for being shy and awkward.'
    - ssesha, CNN iReport producer

    Misdiagnosed for years as having a variety of severe mental illnesses, it was not until I was correctly diagnosed that I was finally able to start being who I really am. I am a video editor and work preserving vintage television shows. I also am attending a University, something I never though was possible.

    I have come a long way since being diagnosed at age 32.

    I want the world to know how brilliant many of us are. And we are not savants. Many of us are highly intelligent and have been responsible for most of the technological breakthroughs of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

    I might be awkward but I am not dumb and I do not have an intellectual disability. I might have problems communicating at times and I might get depressed. I might get really anxious. And I might see things brighter and hear things louder than most people. But I am not "special". I am unique and can contribute to society and the world.
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