My Life as An Autistic Person – by Ben Ellis

Vanderbilt student Ben Ellis (class of 2023) spent spring of 2021 as an intern at the Frist Center for Autism & Innovation. Ben is a part of the Next Steps program, and chose to intern with the Frist Center because of our focus on empowering disabled people in the workplace. As a part of his internship, Ben chose to write his own story and share it with us. Keep reading to learn about Ben: his family and friends, his hobbies, his disabilities, his goals, and so much more. We benefitted greatly from Ben’s work as an intern at the Frist Center, and are especially grateful for his willingness to step into the role of “self-advocate” by writing his story. You can read it by scrolling through this page, or by downloading this PDF version.

-Claire Barnett, Frist Center Communications Coordinator and Ben’s internship supervisor