The Voice Staff Writer Presents His First Book On Campus
posted by Tatiana Gantt | May 3, 2024 | In Arts and CultureApril is National Autism Awareness Month, or National Autism Acceptance Month. FSU student author and The Voice contributor, Andres Castillo, communication and media studies major, discussed his first book My Life Journey with Autism as a Military Child.
Castillo held his book presentation at Chesnutt Library, where he talked about the reasons why he wrote the book, and who inspired him to do so.
Some reasons he wrote his book were to talk about his life with autism, but also “raising the acceptance of autism and military awareness.”
Some challenges that Casillo faced include constant changes and learning different pathways to graduate and find jobs.
Also in those challenges was seeing a psychologist for “behavior issues.” As a child, he was in UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital for a week getting tested to see if he had autism or not. Castillo was later sent home because they found no reason for him to be there.
Along the way of his journey and diagnosis with autism, Castillo stated that paraprofessional teachers, case managers, and friends were able to help him through his life of being a military child.
After the presentation, the floor was open to audience questions where Castillo would give answers to questions about his life, such as: “I feel very blessed to be a military child,” and “my favorite thing about college is to take journalism courses and acting courses.”
When asked if he was enjoying his college experience, Castillo replied: “I like [college] very much because college is better than high school.” Receiving laughs from around the room.
If you are an FSU student and would like to read his book, you can currently request a copy of My Life Journey with Autism as a Military Child at Chesnutt Library.
If you would like to view his presentation, click the link here.
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