Amelia Chang

I'm walking 7k steps a day this May to support Autistic Australians

Here’s my story: As I grew up, I struggled making friends at school, so I spent most of my time alone in primary school. As I grew older I spent most of the time at school alone. By year 5, i stopped having people invite me to parties, or “play dates”. I did have friends on and off but we never truly connected and stopped seeing eachother. 

When middle/junior high school, I did develop a friendship with a particular girl who will stay anonymous. However as my mental health issues increased and I started getting more hospital admissions, I decided it would be a good idea to move schools.

Thinking that moving schools would change everything, but little did I know that this would happen all over again. So when it was Term 4 year 10 in 2022, I left. This “friend” gave a speech to me and soon after blocked me. 

In 2024, I had 25 hospital admissions due to my mental health and because I find it really hard connecting to girls my age in particular, I bottled up my feelings until I just couldn’t control myself and had no other choice but to attempt suicide. 

If you’re wondering, why didn’t you just go to a public school with girls and boys? Well I did and that was right before I moved into that school that I spent 10 years in. You see, being in Kindergarten, I didn’t know much, so when I heard some kids say the “F word”, I blurted it out to my parents when I got home, and they were like Hell no and they transferred me.

In 2023, I was admitted to my first psych ward I’ve ever been to, and from there I was diagnosed with Autism level 2 by one of the doctors there. However in 2023, I came back cuz of mental health issues again and I got re-diagnosed and guess what it was level 3.

For those of you who don’t know what the levels of autism are:

Level 1-Requiring Support(Individuals at this level may experience challenges with social interaction and communication, but can often live relatively independently with minimal support)

Level 2- Requires Substantial Support(They may have noticeable difficulties with verbal and nonverbal communication, and may exhibit more frequent and intense repetitive behaviors or interests

Level 3- Requires Very Substantial Support(They may have limited ability to communicate and interact socially, and may exhibit very intense and frequent repetitive behaviors or interests.Individuals at this level may have significant challenges with communication, social interaction, and independence)

Please donate and help people like me who struggle to make connections. 

I’ve stepped up to Walk for Autism. Please show your support as I walk my own brilliant way for Autistic Australians and their families!

Did you know? Because the world is not autism-friendly, 70% of Autistic people in Australia experience mental health issues.