Hi, I’m Ben and I am 22 years old with Autism from the Chicago Metropolitan area. A little about me, I am an athlete and competitive runner that currently competes in local road races throughout the Midwest region. I also am an intern with a program called Project Search that gives young adults with Autism job training at local hospitals. I’m mid-way through my internship at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital learning job skills in different departments. I’m learning things like how to work with customers, cleaning equipment, how to communicate with co-workers and managers, taking directions, etc. I also work part-time at a local Planet Fitness through this program. I live at home with my parents, sister and many pets!

I recently started an Instagram account called @bengettingaround. I wanted to use this account to inspire kids and young adults on how to do adulting with Autism, get them excited about exercise and fitness, as well as showcase my running career. I was really surprised at how fast my followers have grown. In less than two months I’m close already to 600 followers! I hope to continue to grow it fast and want to explore new and interesting content for my followers. I have a new series on Adulting with Autism coming out over the next couple of months on my Instagram account so I can talk about what basic things are like with people with Autism such as cooking, jobs, transportation, sports, socializing, and more.

I realized I first had Autism in 8th grade when I was getting ready to go into high school. My parents tell me I was diagnosed with a developmental disability at age 3 and then diagnosed with Autism at age 5. It took me a while to learn to do basic things that required fine motor skills. For example, I wasn’t able to tie my own shoes until I was around 15 years old. My parents got me special shoes that didn’t need laces to use. As I got older, my motor skills improved with a lot of therapy and focus. I also had a lot of little anxieties growing up that would throw me off such as dealing with bad weather and storms, being around the stove, insects in the house, etc. I want kids to know that these are normal type things and that you can grow out of them the older you get.

After high school I joined a program called SAIL (Students Attaining Independent Living) which was a great program to help me learn more of everyday things such as handling money, making plans, cooking, etc. It also took me a few years to learn how to drive safely, I was able to get my driver's license when I was around 19 years old and now am able to drive locally to my internship and work. It’s important for people growing up with Autism to understand that it may take them some time to get to certain things they want so they have to stay patient and committed. I didn’t want to rely on other people to get me around town so I was very focused on getting my own license, no matter how long it was going to take.