As a young, happy baby about to become a toddler, my family noticed I was not progressing as a normal toddler would, so they took me for a psychological evaluation at 20 months. At that evaluation, I was officially diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Ever since then, life has been an interesting journey. Today, I am here to explain to people that there are several different Autism treatments that help specific individuals and that this is not a one-size-fits-all method to help Autistic individuals overcome challenges. Utilizing my own story should help newly diagnosed people get through challenges, just like how I was able to get through low and high times in my life.
Jason Harris
I currently live independently in an apartment with a cat, and I have been living like that since I was 22 years of age. I previously resided in Western Suffolk County, New York, but recently moved to Central Nassau County, New York, about a year ago, to live closer to family as well as to potential new staff people since everyone I previously had in Suffolk resigned abruptly from their community habilitation position with me. Despite living on my own, I have lots of support, including my family and my community habilitation worker, who works with me 40 hours a week doing day-to-day tasks such as attending work with me, going grocery shopping, some leisure activities and talking through my mental health challenges, which has become more challenging over the past 2 years. My staff helps me get through difficult events such as large social gatherings, crowded events, or any other environments that may be challenging for me.
Prior to when my challenges arose recently, I always had a psychologist for talk therapy as well as someone to work through my challenges, but on the other hand, I needed to depend more on my psychiatrist, who I only used to see every 3 months and now I see him monthly because each month, the status of my mental health has been changing. Previously, I started seeing a psychiatrist because I tend to have verbal and physical aggression at times, but with medication and psychotherapy, they became nonexistent for nearly 6 years until I faced my first major losses back-to-back in 2024. Those losses included my two grandfathers, a previous girlfriend, as well as several support staff coming and going. There was even a point where I felt very dysregulated. We all decided that I needed to move back home with my parents while I was transitioning between apartments, and that’s how I ended up in my current apartment.
On a positive note, I was able to graduate college from Long Island University with a bachelor’s degree in film. That summer, I became an intern with the ELIJA (Empowering Long Island’s Journey through Autism) Foundation, and now I have worked my way up to be an assistant as a paid part-time job. Previously, in college, I made two major short films. One was a documentary about myself, and the other was a fictional reenactment film based on a real-life experience. Both videos are available on YouTube as “Jason’s Story: Autism is a Different Ability” and “The Search for Gold.”
Both of my major film projects allowed me to get some experience as a writer, director, and editor, and I would love to make more videos in the future and even go into more of an educational film with a fictional storyline. As an example, I would love to make different films about someone’s journey with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and to demonstrate what the good, bad, and ugly science provides and how it’s completely individualized to a learner, and I can relate based off my experiences of positive vs negative ABA. As to my own experience, ABA has been helpful overall when my staff and behaviorists take a more liberal approach to taking the participant’s lead on the way to help me get through tough scenarios.
The next phase outside of film I would like to do is to be an advocate and educator about ABA because there are so many misconceptions about it. It also makes me happy to see advocates out there like Love on The Spectrum US participant Kaelynn Partlow, who captures the benefits of ABA and educates others on social media about it. In December of 2024, I was fortunate to watch her present at the Long Island Behavioral Analysis Conference, and she was able to make me more confident about my views on ABA and other Autism treatments.
I encourage people with Autism to keep trying and receive numerous resources and support to navigate life better. When an individual has Autism, it is important they receive therapy and medication, if needed, as well as support to help them navigate life better. My life has changed by receiving self-direction and psychological services so I can live a normal lifestyle without so much stress and anxiety. I am grateful to live alone, can drive my own vehicle, and am currently in a much healthier relationship with a new partner and obtaining a part-time job. Even though there were still struggles, I managed to get through it all with my team of support.
Jason Harris, age 26, holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a focus on film. He currently works as a Social Media Assistant and Cinematographer at the ELIJA Foundation.
