Autism Light: Jeremy Sicile-Kira

January 12, 2013 Alan Stokes 491 Views 0 Comments 4 min read

Jeremy Sicile-Kira is from San Diego, California. Jeremy has autism and is nonverbal. At birth, Jeremy was diagnosed as severely autistic and mentally handicapped, but as he learned to communicate nonverbally he demonstrated to his educators how much had learned and was able to learn. He is the co-author of the book A Life Full With Autism. Jeremy Sicile-Kira is an Autism Light because of how his life and writings have served to inspire others with autism and those that love them and want to see them have A LIFE FULL WITH AUTISM. His amazing life bears some wonderful similarities to that of Carly Fleischmann who was Autism Light #1.

One of Jeremy’s poignant statements on autism in his life is the following:
“Autism is an important influence in my life. The hardest part is not being able to talk. God must have been out of voices when he made me.–Jeremy Sicile-Kira (Source).”Jeremy Sicile-Kira has his own website at http://jeremysicilekira.com/. The website is headlined with the following saying from Jeremy:

Having autism has hindered my ability to speak, but not my ability to communicate.

High School: Jeremy graduated from Torrey Pines High School (San Diego, California) in 2010 at the age of 21. He had a 3.75 GPA and passed the California High School Exit Exam on his first attempt. Jeremy shared this advice for students with the Autism Light blog, “Try greatly listening to positive people who believe in both your capability and frankly your greatest dreams. Create short and long term educational goals.”

The following video is from the 2010 graduation ceremony for Torrey Pines High School. Jeremy gave a speech at graduation through his assisted communication device. The event was covered by NBC and Fox.

Author: Jeremy Sicile-Kira and his mother Chantal wrote the book A Full Life with Autism together. The book was released on March 27, 2012. Jeremy shared with Autism Light blog that he had these goals for his book, “I hoped to give people hope and information to help them in my book. Nicely I like thinking about the hope I could give.”

In A Full Life with Autism Jeremy and his mother Chantal address the seldom discussed issues related to young people with autism transitioning into adulthood. Jeremy’s website describes the book like this:

Jeremy’s first book, A Full Life with Autism, is a guide for helping our children on the spectrum lead meaningful and independent lives as they reach adulthood. In the next five years, hundreds of thousands of children with autism spectrum disorder will reach adulthood. And while diagnosis and treatment for children has improved in recent years, parents want to know: What happens to my child when I am no longer able to care for or assist him (Source)?

There has been praise for this book from respected leaders across the autism community. Dr. Temple Grandin who was Autism Light #38 wrote the Forward. Dr. Stephen Edelson who was Autism Light #52 said, “A Full Life with Autism is a must-read book for parents and professionals in the autism field (Source).” You can order this important autism book from Amazon.

Social Media: You can follow Jeremy on Twitter Autism Research Institute.

College Life: Jeremy Sicile-Kira has gone on to attend Mira Costa College and he writes for the college newspaper. Jeremy is majoring in Communications and Journalism. He wrote a blog post about being a college student with a disability that can be found at this link.

Advice for Parents: Jeremy shared this advice with the Autism Light blog for parents to improve their relationship with their children, “Nicely have help for them, so they can have a break from you and you from them. Try to remember you both can get overwhelmed.

Jeremy’s mother Chantal Sicile-Kira said the following about him in an email to Autism Light.
It has not been easy to raise Jeremy, to advocate for him. But it has been much harder for Jeremy. Imagine not being able to speak or to have challenges with motor planning and initiation – necessary for every day life. And he is learning to advocate for himself, and for others like him. Jeremy inspires me because he wants to use his writing skills to help others and to make the world a better place–Chantal Sicile-Kira.Understanding Autism: Jeremy Sicile-Kira has wrote an important piece on his website on autism. He explains how his body is effected by sensory processing difficulties. And he also talks about some of the opportunities that come with autism. You can read this piece on his website at http://jeremysicilekira.com/on-autism/.

Special thanks for Jeremy Sicile-Kira for being an Autism Light. His progress and development is an inspiration to the autism community and gives hope to parents who have children who are the most severely impacted by their autism. We expect to hear a lot from Jeremy in the future as he develops his writer’s voice to continue to be an autism advocate in the years ahead. If you wish to keep track of his life you can sign up on his website (http://jeremysicilekira.com/) to receive his Email newsletter.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

Photo: The photo of Jeremy in this post was used with permission of his publisher.

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