When Tom Ames stood up to provide the musical interlude at the June 11 graduation for ASAT, he chose to sing “Wild World,” by Cat Stevens.
At first, Tom sang alone but within moments, the enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 family and friends began singing along.
It was one of many uplifting moments, capped by the poignant words of Jacob Shore, one of the 9 graduates. Jacob brought many to tears and received thundering applause as he talked about how he has come to terms with his diagnosis. Jacob is pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Southern Connecticut State University.
“Over the course of two years, and really throughout my life, I’ve wondered about what I would be like if I didn’t have Aspergers, and I would be able to go to school, college, and work, as a neurotypical kind of person, it wasn’t always wondering too, it was a deep desire, and I desperately wanted to be normal, and be rid of this handicap, and all the different not good effects that came with it, more than once, it may have gotten me in trouble, and caused me to be embarrassed. I just wanted to be cured of this thing that had kept me from being a normal person, that I thought held me back from what I, and maybe a lot of other people wanted from me, I just thought it would make me feel liberated, and able to make people happy and proud with me, if I did things better or right to them, if I didn’t have my disability. But now, I know the truth, I know now that maybe we can’t change who we are, or what we’re born with, but we can live with it, embrace it, and make our lives, and the lives of everyone else, just a little better, and I know that people are pleased and proud of me, no matter what I do, and most important of all, I know who I am, and how I expect to live and be treated as, and even if I do change my mind about something, especially if like it, I’ll still be who I am inside. I am Jacob Adam Shore! And
nothing’s gonna change that.” Continue reading →