My name is Dustin. I’m a autistic man in my 40s who struggled with being autistic and running the diagnosis alphabet in the 1990s before being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 1998.

Over the following years I was in and out of the psychiatric hospital where I also learned that I have bipolar disorder. Through a residential treatment facility placement for 9 months I found the medications that have been working well for over two decades.

Being home after being settled, which wasn’t just an easy solution, I flourished in my high school and graduated successfully. Following graduation, I landed at a Clubhouse model day program where through twenty years I’ve been learning many skills while entering the workforce.

For a year I went to our Commonwealth’s Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Johnstown Pennsylvania to take courses in what is now known as office assistant courses of which I also excelled at.

Being back at the Clubhouse, I eventually got to a supported employment position where I have been working for over a decade and a half now. I complete satisfaction surveys for individuals in my county receiving mental health and substance use disorder services that receive Medicaid. I have also been instrumental in transitioning our county’s advocacy groups from county led to peer led and chairing the committee meetings for several years.

I have gone to Community College earning an associates degree in Web Technology and a certificate in Web Applications, being at the top of the major in the graduating class and being a part of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

I’ve been living on my own for the past several years now. While my first opportunity was unsuccessful due to a number of factors including COVID lockdown, I was able to get an apartment more suited for me.

Also while living on my own, I had a journey of self discovery understanding that my sexual identity is Homo-oriented aromatic asexual, something that I suppressed for nearly three decades. I also had learned that I had to not care about what others think and that not everyone can be my friend.

In recent years there’s been some struggles in taking care of my mental health but I’ve finally understood what is necessary for me to take care of myself and can now genuinely share things that’s worked for me.

I still deal with anxiety flare ups from time to time but I’ve also been through so much in the past 6 years that I’ve been doing quite well all things considered. I make the best of each day and find something to bring me a sense of humor or joy every day.