Easterseals SoCal sat down with Nik Sanchez, actor and cast member of our new PSA campaign “Disability is Not a Dirty Word.” In this interview, Nik gets candid and honest about his experience with autism and how he learned to love himself and his disability.
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Nik Sanchez. I’m 19 years old. I’m an actor, a college student, a Target cashier, a big and little brother, a gamer, and I like to call myself “Awesomely Autistic.” I love saying “hi” to people, learning names, and giving compliments. I’m working to get my degree in Film and TV Production. I would love to continue with my acting career and one day work with Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson.
How are you connected to Easterseals SoCal?
I first got connected with Easterseals through one of my “movie moms,” Holly Robinson Peete. She and the HollyRod Foundation do a lot together to raise awareness and increase acceptance of autism. I’ve done a couple acting projects with Easterseals SoCal, and I am also on their Advisory Board for Autism Services.
What do you like about the “Disability is Not a Dirty Word” campaign and the message behind it?
I love everything about the message of this campaign. I am very open about my autism and other disabilities now, but even I used to be afraid to speak about my disability. I was so afraid that if I didn’t fit in and people found out about my autism, they wouldn’t like me.
But all the time and energy I put into trying to not be me, just made things worse. I feel like this campaign is saying, “you don’t have to like me or even fully understand me, but you DO have to respect me.” That’s really powerful. Especially for groups that feel powerless a lot of the time.
Tell us about your journey of learning to love and embrace your disability?
My journey was definitely interesting. I remember being young and knowing that I had more energy and was “sillier” than other kids. My official diagnoses are Autism, ADHD, and Tourette’s Syndrome. Those do not always create the best behaviors for a structured social setting, like school. I was labeled the weirdo, the annoying one, the gullible one, the stupid one, the loud one, the bad one. I was bullied by kids and teachers…for years.
My mom helped me learn how to advocate for myself. I started telling people early on about my autism and other disabilities. Most people ended up being nicer to me and/or having a lot of questions, which I really liked. Some people still didn’t like me, but they stopped bullying me and left me alone.
Communication helps get rid of some or all of the fear people have of the things they don’t fully understand. If I didn’t start to speak up and advocate for myself, I don’t think my journey would have taken a more positive turn.
What would you tell other people with disabilities who are struggling to accept themselves and be proud of who they are?
Anyone who is struggling with a disability, first of all, I’m sorry that you are struggling. I totally understand and I’ve been there. Everyone needs a great, positive support system but especially those with disabilities who are fighting against something pretty much every day. It makes a big difference if you have people fighting with you and for you. They will help you feel good about fighting for yourself too. You are worth it.
What do you wish people knew about you and other people with autism?
One thing I REALLY wish people knew about me and other people with autism is that we are NOT dumb. Autism is not a measure of intelligence. There are some people with autism that have developmental delays, but there are also people without autism that have developmental delays. Just because someone can’t figure out something the way most people do it, doesn’t mean they can’t find their own way.
How do you hope this campaign impacts the way the world sees and views people with disabilities?
I really hope this campaign can help change what people see as “labels” or “disabilities” to just “character traits.” Because that’s all our disabilities are: traits, characteristics, the qualities that make us, us. Just because people are considered “normal” or without a disability, that doesn’t automatically mean they can do everything or be talented at every skill. Disability or not, we all have our strengths and weaknesses and deserve to be treated with kindness and respect.
If non-disabled people would just be willing to put in even HALF of the effort into understanding us that we put into trying to fit in, the world would be a much better place. We want to feel and be included. Even in things we might not care about. It’s like finding out there was a party that you wouldn’t have wanted to go to anyway, but you still want the invite; we want to know that we can do anything we may want to at any time.
Learn more about the “Disability is Not a Dirty Word” campaign by visiting DisabilityPride.com, where you can hear real stories about people with disabilities, share your own story, take an interactive quiz, or create a social media filter for your own social media channels.
This is such an important and impactful campaign! And Nik Sanchez is an amazing young man. Thank you Easterseals!