Lydia Wayman Wins National Autism Scholarship
Jersey City, NJ (PRWEB) January 13, 2014 -- Lydia Wayman is an aspiring and budding writer. Diagnosed with autism, she hopes to soon graduate with a Master’s of Fine Arts in English from Southern New Hampshire University. She will now be helped toward her goal by winning the Fall 2013 “Making a Difference for Autism Scholarship” from KFM Making a Difference, a NJ non-profit organization.
“This year we were blown away by the applications we received,” says Kerry Magro, founder and CEO of KFM Making a Difference. “After much deliberation, we decided to choose Lydia as she has done an incredible job of helping to serve in her community. We couldn’t have been happier with our decision.”
Lydia said on winning the award, “I'm honored to win this scholarship because it means that others see the potential in me despite my obvious limitations. While I am able to view my autism as something that enables me to learn and write in ways I might not if I were typical, it has proved much more difficult to find any silver lining in my medical conditions. So, although I may excel because of my autism, I have to learn to excel despite my health situation. It's incredibly encouraging to know that others can see that I, though it may not look like it on the outside, I still have the ability to contribute to the world of autism and to society.”
In the fall 2012, KFM Making a Difference launched its scholarship program and today, with Lydia’s win, has given out 5 scholarships in the past 18 months, helping 5 autistic adults to go to college. Kerry Magro, who started KFM Making a Difference in 2009, is a 25-year-old adult national speaker who is on the autism spectrum.
Today, according to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 88 children will be diagnosed with autism while more than 500,000 young individuals with autism will reach adulthood within the next decade.
Lydia hopes to inspire people with her story in the years to come. When asked for some final words Lydia mentioned, “I'd like to tell other autistic adults to pursue their passions and interests, and not what others say they should do or enjoy. When combining passion with vocation, you are engaged and creative in ways that others are not. Although autism may be a hindrance in the wrong area of study, if you're in the right field, it will help you excel.”
KFM Making a Difference will now be looking ahead to its Spring 2014 scholarship application period anticipating awarding scholarships to additional talented autistic adults from the community. The deadline for this scholarship will be Wednesday, April 30th at Midnight U.S Eastern Standard Time.
For more information on KFM Making a Difference please go to http://www.kerrymagro.com/blog/ for more details. You can also learn more about Lydia and her books at http://autisticspeaks.wordpress.com/. Kerry published his debut book last summer, Defining Autism from the Heart, which can be found via Amazon at http://bit.ly/DefiningAutism.
Kerry Magro, [email protected], http://kerrymagro.com, +1 (201) 360-7819, [email protected]
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