Autism Storytelling Project co-founder Ryan Neale was diagnosed with autism at 18 months, but didn’t find out about his diagnosis until the age of 13. Up until that point, his internal picture of autism was heavily influenced by representations in the likes of Rainman and the Big Bang Theory, painting autism as fundamentally antisocial, unempathetic and self-centered. When he found out he was autistic, he struggled to reconcile those portrayals with his own self-image.

Fast forward six years later…Ryan, now a student at UCLA, has come to embrace his autistic identity. Much of that change he attributes to connecting with neurodivergent friends and mentors who have helped him chip away at his own internalized ableism. Yet, he still wishes he could have seen autistic people like himself in the media when he was first diagnosed.

Around the same time, Ryan’s grandfather and San Jose Rotarian David Neale, wanted to mark his 80th birthday milestone by pledging money to a worthy cause. Inspired by two decades of learning from Ryan and his neurodivergent brother Jacob, he decided to create and seed a new initiative, now called the Neurodiversity Empowerment Fund. David and Ryan, alongside a diverse group of neurodivergent people and allies, plan to see the Fund invest in neurodivergent young people for years to come.

The Autism Storytelling Project is the first initiative by the Neurodiversity Empowerment Fund, aiming to provide young autistic creatives with grants, mentorship and opportunities to showcase their work. In doing so, it intends to create the positive representation and awareness-building that young autistic people like Ryan wished they had.