Some Things About Me

By Kyra Francisco

Some little things about me: I am not your typical person. I think that’s pretty obvious, but just because I’m not your typical person does not mean I haven’t had some interesting experiences or fun stories to tell, I’m Kyra Francisco, I have ADHD as well as autism. I am 19 years old and have learned a lot over the last 19 years of my existence and I’m here to talk about it. I am also a Dominican and a mixed Latina woman. I promise this is all gonna be important soon.

Let’s start with the fact that I am not white passing, nor am I dark enough to fit with those of color. This part of me plays a major part in my life story because I don’t exactly fit with those who are considered typical or average, nor do I exactly fit in with people in terms of my skin tone.  This has led to me being put into one of two boxes; either I’m mixed or I’m some girl who’s autism is my entire personality. Never have I been considered both at the same time.  Because of that, I’ve been isolated most of my life, whether it was willingly or an outcome of both of those circumstances I don’t know what I do know is that my identity has never been acknowledged as being able to coexist basically being able to be mixed/Latina while also acknowledging the fact that I am autistic and have other struggles. A good example would be the fact that I didn’t get my autism diagnosis until I was 17. A  major reason for this was first of all I’m a female and second of all if you look at me, you can see that I’m not exactly white.  Both of those factors played a role in the fact that my autism was overlooked as a kid. It never really came up as an option that I could be both Latina and autistic, and that was just the beginning of many different experiences that I would encounter over my life. 

Another really big one comes from middle school at the time I was diagnosed with ADHD and I was also undiagnosed autistic at that time.  Like I said before, I think very differently from your typical person, and because of that the way I approach different situations or come up with a solution sometimes leave room for very big misunderstandings.  This situation being a big one.  I found a wallet on the ground and to me what went through my mind was instead of letting it get kicked around on the floor I would take it with me to my class and when I have my break, I’m going to bring it to the office, and turn it in.  Sadly, before I could even act out that plan the vice principal had come in and accused me of stealing the wallet and wanting to take it for myself and what not and this isn’t to sound racist or anything, but this was an older white man and I was I think 13 maybe 14 at the time.  I was diagnosed with ADHD and I had an IEP which the vice principal was aware of at the time yet he acted or at least the way I have perceived it was that he basically was trying to imply that my “kind” or people being those who are Latino, Mixed, or of color are nothing but thieves and shouldn’t be trusted, but not once did it feel as though I was being treated as an equal or like I had a voice in the situation. He was constantly trying to put words in my mouth or make me believe that my intention was to steal the wallet. It was also a constant battle of trying to explain my thought process to this person in authority to avail. I was being treated unfairly or at least whenever my voice was being “heard” they thought it was nothing but an excuse for my behavior.  They believed that I was using my ADHD and what not as an excuse for trying to steal the wallet, which was never the case.  It felt very invalidating to know that they viewed my differences as nothing but an excuse or not even relevant to the situation at hand. That’s one of the more impactful situations in which being different as well as not being the typical  representation of autism  a.k.a. being a female and Latina had truly impacted me. 

There are several other little small situations a good example of that would be trying to meet new people and expressing that I’m autistic and their response being “you don’t look autistic” or “ you can’t possibly be autistic You’re not a boy nor are you white” OR “Latina’s can’t be autistic.” Which first of all very disrespectful thing to say to somebody regardless of the situation that’s just something you don’t say it’s very invalidating and hurtful and second of all I can be both and autistic there is no reason that I can’t be both at the same time

The entire situation was a reminder that sometimes people will put you into the box that is most convenient for them. I could say so much more but then that would be a lot SOOOO I hope you enjoyed getting to know a bit about me and my experiences and I hope you have a great rest of your day thank you for taking the time to read this 🤍🫶🏽