My name is William Montgomery, I am 18 years old, I work as a canvasser for a congressional candidate (I cannot be too specific because of the NDA), I graduate from high school in June, I will attend Howard in the fall to study psychology, and I create music in my free time. In fact, I am working on an album and plan to release it this summer. It’s about how ego ruins familial relationships. I plan on using music as a side hustle once I become a therapist. I want to become a therapist because as a child on the spectrum, I have benefitted from expensive and high-quality therapy, education, and care. I know several children that would’ve benefitted from such support and I want to give it to them. As lucky as I have been to receive such support, my mother went into debt to place me in such supportive environments. The specialized school she sent me to cost 45,000 per year. I want to provide the same support and assistance I have received to other Autistic children, but for a lower cost so people don’t have to choose between opportunities for their Autistic children and their house. I also want to address how racism affects Black autistic children. For one thing, we are less likely to be accurately diagnosed, according to studies by Mandell and Novak M. I experienced this personally because it took a couple years to get diagnosed and lots of doctors (and family members) assumed I was being nothing more than bratty. Also, the care that Black autistic people receive is not meant for us. My mother currently works as an Autism Aide for children, and she has told me on occasion that the ABA manuals suggest that therapists should act like a child’s friend and not do too much to stop them after they hit somebody, throw and break something, or do other violent things. (I cannot use her real name because it is a violation of HIPAA.) This strategy is ineffective, especially with the black girl she works with. It is common knowledge that black people are mistreated in the justice system, and rewarding violent behavior will leave her more vulnerable to a lackluster and discriminatory institution than she already is. Furthermore, the “friendly” approach will not serve a black person well because of the clearer separation between authority figures and those they are in charge of. I plan on making a study or survey confirming my theory while I am in college or grad school, which I will need degrees from to achieve the goals I have mentioned above.

Like Janisse E. Berry, I am passionate about giving back and supporting Black and disabled people, and I believe that higher education and this scholarship will help me in that endeavor. I cannot condense the causes of this ambition into one particular moment because I believe I was born to serve underprivileged communities and I know for a fact that I’m inheriting a legacy of those who need service and simultaneously have given it. For me, pursuing higher education and actively working to expand access to necessary care for autistic people is an act of giving back and showing my gratitude for those who paved the way in my life. I was diagnosed with autism when I was around four, and my mother worked hard to pay for and access otherwise uneconomical ventures like therapy, alternative education, and even a diagnosis. (All of these things are nearly impossible to access unless you are a white male toddler with rich parents.) My grandmother is active in social justice causes at her fellowship down in Durham and two of my mothers’ cousins regularly volunteer and participate in food drives. My great uncles, who were gay and died of AIDS just before medicine was released and made more “available” (if you were rich and white enough), were the primary caretakers of their severely disabled younger brother, who died in a facility. We do not believe that these deaths are mere coincidences or pure tragedies, but the result of general failures in our institutions. Before my great uncles died, they investigated their brother’s death thoroughly. I plan on thoroughly investigating institutional failures of disabled people, like the aforementioned death of my great-uncle. I also want to continue the grand legacy of Black people with advanced degrees in my family. (In my grandmother’s generation, 8 out of 13 siblings obtained advanced degrees, which is rare among Black people.) After obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at Howard and completing grad school, I intend to work in therapy and public policy so I can provide similar, but cheaper support to autistic children. I would make alternative forms of education (specifically for disabled people) a lot cheaper and of a higher quality if I were elected into a public office, which I will run for in the future. I would also rework ABA so it is not solely centered around wealthy white boys, specifically the parts around ABA that require said therapist to act like a child’s friend. The majority of Black people understand that this idea of equals meaning peers is not only untrue, but also dangerous for us. With this money, and this education, I would work my way up through the systems of healthcare, policy, therapy, and psychology and change institutional practices so that they reflect the needs of all Autistic people. I have lived the issues that Berry fought against and will dedicate my life to fighting them.