“I’m not a fast learner or academically gifted or as talented as other people here at Lee College. But I try very hard.

“I failed a math course last semester. I tried. I even got help from a professor, but I still failed. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to fail college. People might expect me to drop out or not be in college at all. But I’m going to change that perspective, that expectation, for people like me with autism or any other kind of disability.

“I’m very thankful for the disabilities department here and my tutor, Ms. Claire. She’s an amazing person. She helps me with my class assignments. She’s always encouraging and supportive. She motivates me when I may be exhausted or discouraged from life as a college student. And she always reminds me how unique I am compared to other students.

“Being a college student isn’t easy. But it’s worth it if one day, I’ll be on that stage graduating. I’ll be able to say, ‘I made it.’ I want to do it for myself. But I also want to do it for my parents. They always made me feel special, and that I can do anything I put my mind to. I want to make them proud. My dad won’t be here to see it, but I know he’ll be looking down on me when I cross that stage with my diploma.

“I love sports, and I’d love to become a coach one day. Or maybe a motivational speaker. Inspiring and motivating people is something that I always try to do. To keep that fire burning.

“I try to share positive quotes with people. I try to encourage them in whatever they’re doing. I think it’s important. Because sometimes, we all need that. Especially nowadays. I think we’re in dark times. We need more people who like to help you up when you’re feeling down.

“Some people may think that if you’re autistic, you can’t go anywhere, you can’t do anything with your life. I want to prove those people wrong. Being autistic is challenging. But it’s also a gift. It isn’t going to stop me from being the person I want to be, or helping the people I want to help.”

— Roberto (Berto) Nunez Jr.

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“I was diagnosed with autism when I was 6 years old. My dad didn’t really understand what autism was. I asked, ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ My mom said, ‘No. It just means that you’re special. It means that you’re unique, not like everyone else.’ Because I liked cartoons and stuff, it was explained to me that I was like the Wolverine in X-Men. Like, that’s my super power.

“Growing up was challenging, just trying to make friends and fitting in. Some people were mean. In junior high, kids would call me weirdo, ugly, all kinds of things. It was hard.

“But that’s where I met coach (Scott) Griffin. He was a football coach. He’s the man who found me and started helping me. He looked at me as a person, not an autistic person.

“When I got to high school, things were different. I got a chance to be manager for the Goose Creek Memorial football team. Coach (Bret) Boyd was really supportive, and the players were all good to me. I started making friends. People started liking me for me. And I cared about them. I felt like they were my brothers. They were my family.

“I was also team manager for basketball and baseball, all four years. It made me feel important. For the first time, it made me feel special. I felt like I had meaning in my life. I had a purpose. It was everything to me.

“Then when I began taking classes at Lee College, coach (Nick) Wade let me start helping out with the basketball team. It was after COVID, and I was trying to get back on my feet again socially.

“This was also the time when my dad had a heart attack. One day we got a call from the hospital, and they said we better come. He’s dying. That was awful. It still makes me sad to talk about.

“But all the coaches and the guys on the basketball team were so supportive. They were worried for me. If they weren’t there for me during that time, I don’t know where I would be.

“I’m so thankful to coach Wade. He gave me a team to be part of again. He gave me a family again.”

— Roberto (Berto) Nunez Jr.

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D: “Alex has what’s called pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. It’s a type of autism.”

K: “He’s considered intellectually disabled as well. He functions like a wonderful, beautiful child with all the funny things. He’s like a 4-year-old with the hormones of a 29-year-old. So he likes pretty girls. He wants to drive the car. And he came in one day and said, ‘Dad, you are now a baby father. I’m the boss man now.’ He’s so sweet. He loves everybody. I mean, if we were all like Alex, there would be world peace.”

D: “He’s had a stuffed doll since he was a little, bitty guy. Her name is Loonette the clown, and she does everything Alex does. He carries her around and uses her to kind of communicate with people. He goes wandering off, and he talks to everybody. He’s just very open. One time we were standing in line at Astroworld for the roller coaster, and he walked up and down the line with his doll saying hi to all these pretty girls. I was getting frustrated because he wasn’t standing there and being quiet. But I prayed, I wish I could see the world through Alex’s eyes. I wish I could be as open as he is. He was just kind of having a great time interacting with people. And I thought, I wish I could do that. Then I blinked my eyes, opened them up, and all of a sudden there was this 180-degree change. I wasn’t looking through my eyes anymore. I was looking at the world through Alex’s eyes. And what I saw was this wonderful place. I’ve learned an awful lot about life from Alex.”

— David Whitcomb and Kathleen Sydnor (with Alex)

Alex attends school at Avondale House, and he lives in one of its group homes in Houston. 

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“He was probably 4 or 5 when we really started noticing things. When bathroom hand dryers came on, he’d start screaming because they were too loud. When it was hot outside, the heat was way worse for him than for us. And the lights bothered him. When I’d vacuum, he’d start screaming. One time when I was vacuuming, I looked back and the chair was tipped over on the floor and he was hiding under the table. I was panicking. I knew something wasn’t right. He was having speech problems as well, so everything started to add up.

“When my dad passed away, I found a note. I think my family was asking each other if my son was autistic. And it hurt my feelings because I was like, why at this time would you guys do that? Then I started going back and thinking about everything. That’s when I realized, I’d better check on this.

“Asperger’s is what they’ve kind of clumped it all into on the spectrum. I thought autism was one thing, and that you could tell, you could see. I had no idea there were different levels of it.

“I’ve been homeschooling him and dealing with it mostly by myself. I’m just continuing to learn as much as I can. My husband works out of state, so he’s not around very much to help. My daughter, when she’s not working part time, has been a real blessing. She’s like the second mom. She’s helped out tremendously.

“We’re making slow, slow progress. He does want to go to school, and I want to prepare him for school. If that’s what he wants, I want him to go. I just want to know that they are going to be able to give him what he needs. I know we’re behind. But I’m doing the best I can with his academics and socializing, trying to help him learn how to deal with other people. I want the best for him and for his future.”

— Lisa Cassell

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“After the Hurricane Harvey, this nonprofit organization called Just the Crumbs from Sumrall, Mississippi, came here. They started providing meals for all of the flooding victims. We were looking for something that Adam could do to help. That’s when Laurine had this idea that maybe he could prepa

re bags to go along with the meals.”

“They said it would be great to include a salty thing, a sweet thing, a napkin, and then mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup. He would get started on them every day, then I’d take them up there and he’d do some more. He’s been doing it for five weeks.”

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“Adam just loved school. He loved everything about it. He liked being around the people. He liked all of the socialization. He liked the jobs he got to do. His last job was at Tractor Supply. He helped with stocking. He put purchases in people’s cars. He cleaned up the parking lot. He picked up buggies. Whatever they needed him to do, he did. After life skills in the morning, the students would focus on more of the academic side in the afternoon.

“The big challenge came after Adam graduated in May. He still wanted to go to school. He’d grab his backpack and get ready. It was so tough for me to watch, I would actually have to leave. David would explain to him every day, ‘You graduated. You don’t get to go back to school.’ The next day, he’d get ready all over again. This went on for a couple of weeks. It broke my heart.

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“Right before Adam turned 2, that’s when we found out he was autistic. There definitely were signs. Because he was our only child, some of the signs I probably didn’t recognize as early as I should have or could have.

“David and I were a little bit older parents, which I think was a blessing as we began raising an autistic child. I don’t know that we really felt equipped. But as we went along, I think we learned what to do.

“Because I was a volleyball coach, Adam traveled a lot. David would take all his vacations to go on the road trips with us. That was probably our biggest challenge when Adam was younger. Being in crowds with loud noises, he didn’t like it. He would scream bloody murder. But as he got older, he got better.

“He may not socialize like others, but he grew to like being around people. I think traveling, going to the games, going to the restaurants with the team and just being around all of that really helped him. His teachers always said that it’s amazing how well he behaves. But he just had to do it. Now his favorite thing is going to restaurants.”

— Tracie Johnson

Tracie was the head volleyball coach at Lee College for 29 seasons, where her teams recorded 652 wins.

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