Kris McElroy

My journey with doctors has often felt like the online dating platforms swiping left or right after an appointment. I’d start with “Hi, my name is Kristian. I go by Kris. Nice to meet you”. If the response was “Kristina…” it was usually a swipe left by the end of the first visit. But, if the response was “Hi Kris, nice to meet you. How can I help you/what brings you in today?” then we proceeded with a swipe right on the neurologist journey.

I wish I could say I go into Autism Awareness Month with joy and excitement.

If someone would have asked me to rate my anxiety and excitement on a scale of 1-10 when I found out I was going to be a dad in May of 2020, I would have said, “Are you kidding me? I’m like a 25 on excitement and a 50 on anxiety.” Before then, I had received so many negative messages, I never believed I could be a good parent because I was autistic. This played into my anxiety being a 50 mixed with good old new parent anxiety in general. Now almost two years later, I know this isn’t true.