Martin is the creative mind behind Spire Autism, a business dedicated to raising awareness about autism and the people it affects…
I’d like to talk about gratitude today. Just for a moment, just for a few minutes.
I’ve turned 27 in June. The moment I did, something hit me. I realised that despite what my parents say, despite what society thinks and despite the broader picture, I felt old. Maybe old is the wrong word. I felt wiser.
A conversation I recently had with my driving instructor confirmed this. Me, at the ripe age of 27, and him, at the age of 35-something, we were sat in the car, talking about how people in their early twenties don’t take the time to be grateful for what they have. How they show no resilience, how they leave jobs within a few weeks of starting, how they complain about everything and everyone and how little in common we have with them.
I sat there and thought: ‘Wow, I AM old.’ Here I am, bonding with my driving instructor over hate for these ‘spoiled 20-year-olds‘.
It’s not necessarily that I’m burning with this deep hatred for 20-year-olds, no. It’s just that the majority of them happen to fall into the category of people that I really don’t understand. People that instead of solving a problem end up just complaining about it. People that whine and cry about the things they don’t have, but never want to do remotely anything to achieve them. And finally, people who half-ass everything they do, only to later act surprised when it’s not enough.
Introducing – Martin
And then, there are people like Martin. People who use obstacles life throws at them for their own advantage. People who don’t let their disorders define them, people who have to fight just a little bit harder for what they have, and people whose mission in life is to be good, do good and spread good.
Martin Slyngstad is 32 years old, from San Jose, California. He is an author, a business owner, a DJ in his free time, a Speech Pathology student and an assistant soccer coach for a local Special Olympic team.
Martin was completely non-verbal until the age of three, diagnosed with autism at the age of five and a leading light for autism awareness from the age of 25.
I am grateful for people like Martin.
Q: Martin, what were you like as a child?
M: After I discovered language, it was nonstop from there. I read books a lot and had a lot of information to share. Growing up I wanted to be a Paleoanthropologist, so my main read was dinosaurs.
I did a bit of occupational therapy growing up to help with my balance, as I struggled with walking and talking. Because of my back surgery in 2006, I was not able to play sports, so I decided on coaching. Nowadays I volunteer as a coach for Special Olympics.
Q: Could you tell me a little bit about Autistic Spectrum Disorder?
M: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD for short) is a group of developmental disabilities. It is a wide range, meaning some have difficulty with communication while others have difficulty with balance. No two people are the same, so when you meet one person with autism that is one person of many.
Q: What is an autistic meltdown and what is your experience with it?
M: Meltdowns are when our brain gets overstimulated from either a big workload, a long day at school, or little to no support from others. Also, it happens when we don’t know how to express how we feel. Whether we feel frustrated or don’t know what to say, the meltdowns happen as a result of that. Thus, the parents feel the effects after school.
Autistic meltdowns are kind of like when Mentos and Diet Coke meet, you get that combustable reaction. We don’t mean to have it, but it is hard to control.
Martin Slyngstad, 2023
Q: What kind of impact, if any, does this disorder have on your life?
M: It has a big impact on my life in a positive way as I am writing different speeches, sharing the word and messages of hope, and starting to get attention from different cities to speak. During childhood, I didn’t want to accept I was autistic because I didn’t understand it as much as I do today.
Q: What are the positive sides of living with ASD?
M: We are hardworking people, great friends, honest, and very loyal. For some we are artistic, and for others we are detail-oriented. The beauty of Autism Spectrum Disorder is we can do many things in different ways, and even if we don’t like it, we give other things a shot.
Q: Your business is called Spire Autism, tell me about your vision and mission?
M: I launched Spire Autism in 2023 and I focus mostly on doing speaking engagements in various companies, or events on autism awareness. My mission is to share my story in hopes that it will motivate other people like me to step out and share their story whether it be through photography, singing, arts/drawings. I want to show people that ASD is not a roadblock to success. I want to be a beacon of hope and I want people like me to come up to me and say: ‘Because of you, I didn’t give up’.
Q: You have also written a book ‘’Chatter Box: My Life With Autism A Mother And Sons Perspective’’, what was the process of writing it?
M: Chatter Box was great to write about, but it was not easy. It took about seven years
to write. I fought with writer’s block, I was worried no one will read it because I’m autistic. But, as the autism rate is increasing, I felt the need to finish it and release it during Autism Month in April.
The unique thing about the book is you get both my perspective and my mom’s. There aren’t a whole lot of books out there that will give you two perspectives, from a mother and a child. During the initial meeting about what to bring up in the book, we came up with the most important topics from the early years to school, friendships to work and up to recently with what I have done. When we wrote the book we didn’t read our notes and didn’t know what we wrote until we put the chapters together.
Q: Looking over your social media, I noticed you have done and achieved so much. Tell me about your proudest achievement.
M: Other than writing the book, my biggest achievement was getting the city I live in to create a proclamation declaring April as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. I’ve also worked with the mayor on having the city be more inclusive to autistic and those with other disabilities. I almost got emotional when I went to city hall to pick the proclamation up. It was definitely a great achievement. Mayor, if you’re reading this, thank you for the support.
Q: If you could send a message to a parent who has an autistic child, or someone who is on the spectrum struggling with this disorder, what would you say to them?
M: To parents who are reading this, don’t give up. I know how tough things can be. From what I have seen, with these meltdowns we have it is because we have a tough time saying how we feel, especially in school. To us you are our superheroes.
I would like to share something from one of my speeches in Dubai:
“You are stronger than you realise, and even though there may be hurdles that are thrown in your way, you have what it takes to push through. Will there be days when you either lose or don’t have any hope? Of course, but that is only temporary. In a way, it is like a continuous cycle; we have hope, then suddenly, something happens where hope takes a hit, and finally comes full circle with it coming back up.
Parents, I know what you are feeling, the feeling of defeat, the feeling of doubt, the feeling of failure and so on. Hope is one of the keys to belief, and belief is one of the keys to affirmation.”
Finally, I think we should move from awareness to acceptance. When it comes to awareness, that means you are aware and that’s it. Acceptance means not only you
are aware, but you’re also actively doing what you can to be supportive when we need it the most.
I think a lot of autistic people and children sometimes feel like outcasts. We are great people and want to be ourselves without judgment. So please, all I ask is that you give us a chance to be ourselves, accept us for who we are, and you will see we are wonderful individuals. Let us work together to bridge the gap.