"We're not alone in this community": New Jersey's Kerry Magro is on a mission to spread autism awareness any way he can
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- April is Autism Acceptance Month, a time to learn more about people on the spectrum.
CBS2's Cindy Hsu met a local man with autism who's spreading awareness and understanding throughout the world.
Kerry Magro is 34 years old and his latest way of educating people about autism is by making TikTok videos.
"It received over 4.1 million views on TikTok. I just had so many parents, educators, family members who just wanted to learn more about autism, and they were like, keep going, keep doing what you're doing because it's making a difference," he said.
Magro did not talk until he was 2-and-a-half years old. He was diagnosed with autism at 4 and didn't speak in full sentences until he turned 7.
In college, he started a nonprofit called KFM Making a Difference, which awards students who have autism with college scholarships. He later earned his doctorate in education.
He's now a professional speaker, traveling the world talking about autism and inclusion.
"We've gotten inquiries from people from Africa, Canada, the U.K. It's just shown me that we're not alone in this community. There are people impacted by autism across the globe," Magro said.
He's written four books. His latest one, which just came out in March, is called "Autistics on Autism." All proceeds will go to his scholarship foundation.
"You are going to find 100 amazing autistic adults' stories of how they were able to navigate their adolescence and ultimately succeed in their journeys," Magro said.
He says most publicly funded services end for children with autism when they age out of school, so that could be late teens. He's fighting to get resources for adults with autism through legislation and has a message for parents.
"Never give up on your child. Never give up on getting them the best quality supports so they can live their best quality of life because, again, it's a spectrum and it's really about providing those resources across the lifespan because autistic children will grow up to be autistic adults and we need to be ready for them," Magro said.
He'll keep promoting awareness any way he can.
Magro says while you can learn more about autism through books, it's better to learn by getting to know someone who has autism.
