[AUDIO LOGO] I felt very alienated growing up at school. I just felt like I wasn't like anyone else. And there must be something wrong because I'm not understanding how other people are acting like this. And I don't know why I can't act in this way or I'm not picking up on this. I just felt like either everyone else around me is, completely ignorant or I'm just a mistake or something because I just felt like I didn't understand anything. I get told off for so many things that wasn't actually something that I should get told off for. So it was so confusing growing up because I was like, what am I doing wrong? Like, I'm clearly doing something wrong and I don't know what it is. I think it helps having that diagnosis, because it made me realise that I wasn't just an outcast and I wasn't just-- there was just something wrong with me. I have advantages and some things I struggle with. Just straight up being told you don't fit in here. You're not. You can try and act cool. You can try and hang out with us, but there's always going to be that barrier that means that you're not entirely accepted. It wasn't like my classmates at five years old knew that I had autism and then discriminated against me because of that. It was more, I guess, maybe the differences that I displayed. But even at that age, I can't even tell you. I didn't know how I acted different, and I didn't know how what I was doing was any different to anyone else. How behind I was placed in positions where I was extremely overwhelmed and I couldn't do anything about it. And it got worse as the years went by. I started having major anxiety. And when those situations happened, I just straight up have a panic attack and leave the classroom or literally walk home. I've done that before. It was really difficult. I'd be overwhelmed or I'd get sensory overload or things like that would happen. And it wasn't necessarily being dealt with in the way that it would be if people were educated themselves and acknowledged the fact that I did have autism. The teachers that were helping me would be like, look in my eyes when I'm speaking to you, Tylan. They would speak to me like I was 8, like, I didn't understand what everyone else was understanding. I wasn't allowed to be myself anywhere except for when I got home. Who I was, was someone that was very damaged at that point. So being myself meant just getting up and walking out of class or just not being able to deal with any of it. Literally, just hanging out by myself. Making less of an effort to fit in, i guess. It was hard because obviously I have autism, but it's more hard when I'm surrounded by people that don't understand me, which is actually what the problem is. I was struggling and I wanted to be heard. All I wanted to do was scream and tell people, this is how you can help me. It's so simple. It's really not that difficult. But it felt like I was asking for too much and that I was being too needy. But really, if someone's not listening, if someone's avoiding your volume, then as much as you scream, they're not going to want to listen. I just felt completely misunderstood. And I was told every day that I basically wasn't going to do well and I wasn't going to be able to live a normal life because things were going to get so much harder outside of school, and things were already unbearable at school. So it felt like I had no chance from the get go. And I just felt everything was so permanent. And it was way easier for me to just sit-in that feeling of depression than to see that things do change, because I couldn't see that at all when I was in school, because that's not really how I was taught, I guess. I wasn't really taught that it was going to get better. In school, it was like, if you think this is difficult, well, you're in for a treat because it's going to get so much harder when you leave. It's not going to get better. And so it felt like if I can't be accommodated for my needs now, then there's no point because I'm not going to be able to succeed in life. I wasn't just low because of situational things, because it became more like I was clinically depressed and I still take medication, but it became more like-- it overcame my entire life. Like my entire life was just sad. I wasn't in school for a bit, so it wasn't really like a school life. I wasn't going into school every day because I really wasn't well and the school was kind of afraid of me. So I wasn't in school for a while. But then when I got my job, I think that's when I'm pretty sure, that's when everyone started making adjustments, weirdly. I think that's when everything started to get back on track, I think. And also when I had come to school, I think people needed to do something because I was actually at risk, so I needed help. It was more urgent thing. Otherwise, I wasn't going to be able to go to school, period. I thought it was too late for me to be happy. Like, if I'm not feeling good now, I'm never going to feel good. But I realised that there's so much more life outside of school, and there's so much more than just school. And school is great for some people, and it's not for everyone. But knowing that is fine, and it doesn't make you any less intelligent, and it doesn't make you any less smart because you're not necessarily academic. And I feel I'm flourishing in the environment I'm in because I'm doing what I want now, and that subsequently has improved my health so much. Even if I don't feel I have the greatest support system at school, I know that I have that at home. And even if you don't have it at home, you have that in yourself because you hold that integrity, otherwise you wouldn't be here watching this video right now. Whatever experiences you may have had with other students, does not mean that every student is the same. And it does not mean that I'm naughty because I'm walking out of the class. And it does not mean that I'm naughty because I'm struggling and I'm not necessarily writing things down as quick as all the other students. It may just mean that I have special needs, and I just need you to be able to make those adjustments in order for me to learn. And just hear other people out here, all the students out because you never know what they're going through, and you never know how your words can impact them, even at such an impressionable age. It's so important to feel like you're being heard, and it's so important to be treated like an adult, I guess. To be treated like, you're not voiceless. You're not a robot. You're a person. 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