About Myself

 Here is a little of my background. I am writing an autobiography, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet if you don't mind.

I was diagnosed with autism when I was 13-14 years old. It's a late age to find out I know, but growing up my parents and I went through a lot with me.

I was born in the early 90s in Germany, then came over to the USA when I was only one year old. Starting from the day I was born, I suffered from health conditions starting with Hydrocephalus and seizures. Because of this, I went through brain surgery three times in my life so far. Three too many, if you ask me. As for the seizures, they were just staring spells, but I had to go through EEG (Electroencephalography) because of them. An EEG scans your brain activity to see if there is anything abnormal, such as seizures. They were fun to do because I got to stay up all night and sleep during the appointment while they attached this computer to my head. There was this one time I had to wear it for a whole week, but most of the time it was just during the appointment.

My mom had to adapt to living in the USA, and learn English while I grew up in two different cultures and how to differentiate the two. I also had to learn English as a second language as well. Many people don't believe me when I say English is my second language.

As I started elementary I was diagnosed with ADD. I had to take medication just so that I could focus on school. My medication changed over time. My mom hoped that one day I would no longer need it. Every once in a while, my mom would say so. Guess what she was right as is with many things. But it took me a long time before I could manage without.

In my first year in middle school, I had to go through my third brain surgery. It took me a long time to recover from it. Then, just before I started the eighth grade, I was diagnosed with autism. Once I was diagnosed, people predetermined my capabilities even more than they did before. I never really understood how someone could be so willing to prejudge someone's abilities, especially at a young age.

My mom pushed me in the right direction, making sure that I worked my way out of special-ed and earned a high school diploma by researching my condition and finding the right kind of help I needed.

In my senior year of high school, I decided to write a book about my life. Unfortunately, it's been taking me a while to do it simply because I didn't know who I am beyond my conditions. I took a break from writing my book for a few years and went to college, and studied theater and film while working retail. After my college career and working on a few film projects, I finally came to the realization that I am a storyteller. I then started my own Nature Photography business Naturally Nature Photography and began writing more stories. I hope to one day self-publish a few books and inspire people with my stories and photos.