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Kamloops student shares story about growing up with autism

Stories from the spectrum

A new Telus mini-documentary showcases how two individuals living with autism overcame their obstacles and proved everyone wrong.

Brody Butts is a Thompson Rivers University student who hopes to one day become a pediatric neurosurgeon. The 20-year-old was born in Victoria and was diagnosed with autism between the sixth and seventh grade.

"When I was younger, doctors told me that I wouldn’t be able to be a functioning member of society, I would barely have friends and I would never succeed past high school," Butts says in the film.

Jenny Story, 26, was born in Yellowknife. Her diagnosis came at the age of three, after her family moved to Vernon.

"It was a big shock for everyone. Autism, at that time, it wasn't really well known. My mom was like, 'What's autism and what do I do to help my daughter?" Story says in the clip. 

Both her and Butts were severely bullied over the course of their teenage years.

"Doctors told my mom that I wasn’t going to accomplish a lot, I was never going to read, I was never going to write, I wouldn’t be able to do high school, elementary school. It was just a very bleak future for me. That’s not what happened," she says.

Story, who now lives in Vancouver, went on to become a 2D and 3D animator and a published author.

Story's mom, Janet Walmsley, tells Castanet she's so proud and happy for her daughter. 

"I see a person who’s gone through adversity in her life but she was willing to push through and to become the person she is today," she says.

The Telus mini-doc, directed by Melinda Friedman of Spotlight Productions, is not just for the autism community, but for everyone, Walmsley says.

"We want people to see how young individuals with autism can be an asset in our society and in the workforce," she says.

"We want to reach out to as many people as we can to show that autism doesn’t have to be a death sentence. It can be a life sentence, that they can be out there living very fulfilled lives and they don’t have to be shut in a corner."

Check out the video below.



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