22 Y.O. Man With Rare Form Of Autism Is Inspiring People With His Story Of Self Acceptance
Accepting yourself can be quite a challenge. In a sense, we become our own enemy because we know what’s most wrong with us and we often live in fear and discomfort because of it.
It’s hard to like certain things about ourselves knowing that someone might see our “flaws”, completely ignoring the fact that they might not even be flaws to begin with and that we’re no different than anyone else as we’ve all got our demons to deal with.
Bronson Layton, a 22-year-old English language tutor and YouTuber from Ragland, Alabama, has recently come out with a public post about his life of living with a rare form of autism and how he overcame all obstacles by accepting himself.
Meet Bronson Layton, a 22 Y.O. English language tutor and YouTuber with autism (PDD-NOS)
Image credits: Bronson Layton
Several weeks ago, Layton wrote an inspiring public post about how he accepted himself and how everyone else, no matter how “different” they may be, should too
Layton was first diagnosed with PDD NOS, a rare type of autism, back in 1999 when he was just 2 years old
School wasn’t easy given his challenges with autism, but he soon found out about a talent of his: creative writing
Layton never knew about his autism until one day when he found some diagnosis documents while cleaning up
Autism is a broad spectrum of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. It just so happened that Bronson Layton was diagnosed with a rare form of it called Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (or PDD-NOS).
In his post, Layton details how he grew up living with autism, starting with his diagnosis at just 2 years old, leading up to the school years and his struggles learning, the discovery of his talent for creative writing as well as his subsequent discovery of his autism at the age of 15—his parents never told him about it until he found out for himself whilst cleaning up at home.
He understood that his parents kept it from him because they wanted to protect him—to not affect his self-esteem and to not make him feel like a freak in the eyes of others. He understood that they did so because they love him, this leading Layton to accept who he is as an individual.
He accepted himself and never let autism stop him from doing great things, helping others along the way
Image credits: Bronson Layton
Image credits: Bronson Layton
Layton never let it stop him from doing great things in life. He focused on his talents and used them to help those who needed a friend. Since then, despite these odds, he went on to do many great things, including becoming class president, leading class graduation, earning a Master’s degree at a prestigious college, and running his own YouTube channel.
The post ended with a message of support, saying that no matter how different you may be, you’re on the right path in life—“don’t worry, you’ve got this.” He also offered to share his advice and experience on how to deal with a life of autism for anyone who needs help, urging people to not forget that they are not alone in this.
Layton had a feeling that he needed to tell this story to the world, and that he did. He posted the public post on the Good News and Happy Stories Only Facebook group, where people were inspired by it. People praised him for the amazing story of his life, calling him an inspiration and thanking him for sharing it. Some passed on their best wishes to him and even shared their own experiences with autism.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comment section below!
Here’s how people on the internet reacted to this story
Ok, I admit this made me tear up. I found out last year that I'm autistic and I've been struggling to adjust to the news. Although it explains a lot, it's a tricky thing to wrap my head around the fact that I'm allowed to be the real me (I'm 44 and I've been masking for most of my life). I'm trying to accept that being different is not a bad thing. Even though it sometimes makes life difficult for me. People like Bronson give me hope. If you ever read this thread, thank you Bronson xxx
Strange.. For what I learned PDD NOS is a 'rest group' for developmental disorder. People with PDD NOS have to little symtoms of Autism to be considered autistic. In the Netherlands the diagnosis PDD-NOS does not exist anymore since.. 2013? Not at all a rare diagnoses to be given.
I was just about to comment that! It's more of a catch-all diagnosis, usually give. By doctors who don't want to commit to full dx of autism. Super common, actually!!
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Awesome story! Just one thing bothered me. PDD-NOS is not a rare form of autism. It's alle forms of an autism like disorder that doesn't fit the bill. So it might be that his set of symptoms is fairly unique, but the term is just a container for everything in that corner not fitting the exact diagnoses like classical autism or Asperger's and more.
Ok, I admit this made me tear up. I found out last year that I'm autistic and I've been struggling to adjust to the news. Although it explains a lot, it's a tricky thing to wrap my head around the fact that I'm allowed to be the real me (I'm 44 and I've been masking for most of my life). I'm trying to accept that being different is not a bad thing. Even though it sometimes makes life difficult for me. People like Bronson give me hope. If you ever read this thread, thank you Bronson xxx
Strange.. For what I learned PDD NOS is a 'rest group' for developmental disorder. People with PDD NOS have to little symtoms of Autism to be considered autistic. In the Netherlands the diagnosis PDD-NOS does not exist anymore since.. 2013? Not at all a rare diagnoses to be given.
I was just about to comment that! It's more of a catch-all diagnosis, usually give. By doctors who don't want to commit to full dx of autism. Super common, actually!!
Load More Replies... Awesome story! Just one thing bothered me. PDD-NOS is not a rare form of autism. It's alle forms of an autism like disorder that doesn't fit the bill. So it might be that his set of symptoms is fairly unique, but the term is just a container for everything in that corner not fitting the exact diagnoses like classical autism or Asperger's and more.
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