Hello I’m Rodney Mills. I’m a 30 year old man with Autism. I have lived an amazing life that has seen me go from having no voice to becoming the empowered person that I am today.

Having a voice is essential for everyone irrespective of whether you have a disability or not. In my case it’s in these typed words that you’re hearing my voice. I use facilitated communication to type these words. This involves a facilitator holding my arm or shoulder to help me to better use my arm to type.

I live in a body that I find difficult to control and have lots of involuntary movement. To type these words I must use the will of my thoughts to get my finger to raise itself to the keyboard. It’s like trying to lift a heavy weight when you seem to not have the strength. I’m so grateful to have had the people in my life to walk beside me. I’m really wishing to make a difference in the lives of the people with disability. I’m also trying to educate the public and advocate for more people with disability to live more inclusive lives. I train people to develop their skills in facilitated communication, which includes really working with support workers families and professionals. This work with the people in my life helps to give my life meaning and purpose. It was my dream. To teach others to inspire them, trying with my example to show them a glimpse of what’s possible is my heart’s desire. I love to present to audiences that show interest in making real positive changes to their ways of working in order to help individuals to become empowered to take some more control over their own lives. If I am able to have a positive impact on the community then this will hopefully inspire others to do the same.

The wonderful thing about my life is that I have the control of my destiny and the systems in place to support me- family, friends and support workers to aid me in achieving my dreams. This has been a long process to get to where I am today. You often forget what you sometimes have achieved when you’ve got your sights ahead of you. When I look back, I’m in awe of my achievements. How could someone go from living day to day in pre-arranged segregated activities in respite day centres to living in his own home with a real paid job and presenting far and wide? By dreaming and maintaining a strong will to persist. It was also vital to be able to communicate without relying on others to interpret for me. We really need to explore people who don’t talk finding what works as an effective system of communication. It is a human right and as such we must find ways to help others find their voice.

I’m powerless without my voice. I’m at the mercy of so many sensory and movement challenges it would be like trying to speak with your mouth tied up and gagged. I’m hoping that I’m still able to effect positive change. It’s in my dreams for the future that I can move forward to seek new experiences. I want to study at University, I want to travel and really make the most of life, living it to the fullest. I’m grateful to the people in my life. Obviously people need people. It’s in this interdependence that life becomes meaningful. Pleasing others is no longer the option that I choose to fall back on. With my voice comes the responsibility to exercise it. It hasn’t been easy to cultivate but it’s the most important resource I have.

Those people who seem to be sceptical about me look only on the surface level and see through their old conditioned minds. I’m no longer interested in trying to convince them. I hope to really explore more of the world around me so I can learn about other countries and meet other people. Your life is how you live it and living it to the fullest is how I wish we all should live irrespective of abilities or our so called disabilities. Obstacles in my life have lessened as I have been better able to communicate my needs. It’s making the choices and letting others know that I need help by pointing with my finger to type out my words. It’s mostly the respect that I now get as result of having a way to type my thoughts. If I didn’t have this then I would not have the same quality of life that I now enjoy.

My obstacles in life are enough to make anyone give up-they include not having speech, needing support with most things in my life, having sensory problems, anxiety that affects me daily and obsessive and compulsive behaviour that tries to overtake me. This overload is hard to put into words. I’m getting lost in a thunderstorm of anxiety and it is like trying to make sense of where reality lies. The lost feeling is unbearable. I want people to realise that I’m just like them on the inside. The yearning to be accepted is my soul’s need. The people who find me difficult are only able to see the outside. These people usually like to put me in the too-hard basket. I have been extremely fortunate to have loving family and the support around me to never give up no matter what. I want people to take a look at my life and see what is possible.

I will continue to advocate for people with disability. Without people with disability getting up and speaking up, we run the risk of putting our lives into the hands of others .Therefore let’s all work together to help others to take more control of their lives. This however, cannot happen without paradigms being shifted. I’m regularly talking to university students in the fields of Medicine and Occupational Therapy to try to educate them into interacting with people with disabilities in an empowering way to look beyond their diagnosis. In conclusion, people with disability look to walk with people and to journey alongside them. People will look to try to downplay our needs, but they will not succeed as long as there are enough of us speaking up to show openly that we can live inclusive existences.