Living with Autism

My name is Mario Marquez and I’m 30 years old. I have autism and I never knew I would be diagnosed at a later age in my life. Growing up was difficult for me because there were no resources for me to really reach out. I’m an only child and my parents divorced before I was born, so I found it hard to really relate to just one parent. I didn’t really know much about my disability because I was too young to understand how others viewed me. Getting an education was not easy for me and it took me a long time to adjust to new settings. Some of my experiences in high school and college were due to my lack of effort and didn’t always get good advice.

I decided to apply for services with Asperger Works because it would really benefit me in many ways that are not always close to me and able to find good support. I’ve been unemployed for 3 years now and have struggled to find work that would suit me. My last job was a real hardship because I didn’t like how my superiors treated me. It’s given me plenty of time to reflect on my performance and I now understand what is really expected of me in my job matches.

I am now working as a volunteer at Asperger Works. I know I will do my best according to my abilities to serve this agency with honesty and be faithful in executing my duties and working with others to better serve those with my disability.