Jerome Etteridge is a teacher’s aide who has a lofty ambition – he wants to become the face of autism in Australia.
The young Sydney man has already built up an impressive resume in reaching his education, sports, work and entrepreneurial goals so he is the kind of person who will do everything possible to achieve his ambition.
He was a guest on the most recent episode of The Disability Trust’s podcast, Labelling the Disabling, hosted by board member Carol Heijo and Chief Operating Officer Ed Birt.
Last year, he delved into the world of becoming a public speaker and has provided motivational presentations to schools, disability services organisations and School Leaver Employment Services groups.
Jerome explained how he uses personal anecdotes about growing up with autism to explain to people what it’s like to experience life on the spectrum.
By using humour and honesty, he’s breaking down barriers to inclusion, promoting understanding and spreading the word about the benefits of diversity.
“When I look into all the communities like autism, I haven’t really seen like a face or like a symbol or a representation. I believe there’s a flag but there’s not too much representation, there’s not an outspoken voice,” he explained.
“Whereas when I look on the news, a great person I see is Dylan Alcott. We have the great Australian tennis player in the wheelchair and he’s an amazing person and everyone loves him, and I looked at myself and I say ‘I can see myself being the Dylan Alcott but for autism’.
“I feel like a lot of autistic people I know can become ashamed and feel awkward having the big label of autism, so what I want to do is I want to move forward in life and I want to be a representation for our community.
“I want to show the wider audience all around the world that autism isn’t like a one size fits all. There’s a saying that I get told at my work and I fully embrace it – it’s once you know one person with autism, you know, one person with autism, and I just want to be able to show what autism looks like in one possibility, who I am.”
Jerome launched his own website to promote his motivational speaking.
“I’m a person with autism, but I’ve managed to survive and complete education. I managed to go to TAFE, I managed to get a Cert IV in education support. I’ve also managed to get the Certificate of Excellence for that year, which was an amazing achievement.
“And when I go to these events, I just want to show people you know, autism isn’t black and white. So, when I go to these events, I look to express myself as openly and as positively as possible, but also very honest. I don’t want to dodge any of the stuff around autism.
“The first thing if you ever come to a conference with me, you’ll see me ‘Hi there, my name is Jerome Etteridge, I have autism, ADHD, intellectual disability/learning disability and a sleeping disorder.
“My goal in doing that is just to put it all on the table – this is who I am and these are all the things that surround me, that affect me and look at what I’m doing right now.
“Look at me again from the stage in front of 50 or so other people, and I’m out here and I’m just going to talk and if you don’t like that, for some reason, that’s fine. I don’t care, you can leave the room. And if you find me empowering, please stay back and have a chat with me. And that’s the whole idea because it comes into my philosophy and my core belief ‘if I can do it, you can do it’.”
Jerome has represented NSW in athletics and basketball and has also received a Commonwealth Parliamentarian Award.
He said he came to the realisation that there was “no magical medication” that would mean he no longer has autism so he might as well have fun with it.
“Self-deprecating humour is a joke I love to do with my mates. know, just first people off because we don’t expect me make a joke about it,” he said.
“But that’s what makes people fun and then people want to be around me and then by that logic, they’re now being around and being exposed to a person with active disabilities and it normalises it.”
Jerome often speaks to students about employment options after their education is over at Aspect schools which cater for kids who are on the spectrum.
He outlines the challenges and frustrations that these school leavers will face when they try to seek meaningful employment but gives them the tools to deal with the situations from his own experiences.
And for people who don’t get the opportunity to hear from Jerome directly can still tap into his knowledge online – not only does he have his own website but he’s set up accounts on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to continue to spread the word about autism in Australia.
