Cadie | Howick

“Well actually, in my course there’s a boy that has autism, and so I kind of look after him, make sure he’s doing his work, make sure he brings everything with him, and it’s just kind of cool, because you can hang out with people that aren’t like you, but you realise that you’ve still got similarities with them and that they’re not as different as you think they are.

If you actually get to talk to them and hear about their lives, you’re the exact same as them. Just because he has autism doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know the same things that I know, and he is extremely smart. He goes and does his work, and there’s nothing different about him. If he needs help, he can come to me. If I need help, I know I can go to him, and just because he has autism doesn’t mean that he can’t help me with stuff that I don’t understand. I think it’s cool because you kind of put a label on things, and so if he has autism, you automatically assume he’s not the smartest, or something like that, but when you actually look at it, he’s the exact same, and he knows probably more than I know in my course, and he’s smart and he’s bright and he’s friendly, and he’s never hurt anyone in his life, but because he has a label put on him, people don’t necessarily go; I want to hang out with him, but once you get to know him, he’s a great person.

Everyone’s the same, and I don’t think because they look a certain way or they have a certain label, I don’t think we should treat them differently because of that, because everyone is the same, and everyone’s going through stuff, and you don’t understand that unless you actually get to know them. So, I don’t think we should make a judgement based on how someone looks or how someone acts.

I work in retail, so it kind of shows me that if someone even looks different or if they talk differently, they walk differently, if you actually pay attention to them, they are the exact same as you. There’s nothing different about them. You don’t have to treat them any differently, because they are still the exact same as you. They’re just going through something slightly differently, and you won’t understand it, but you don’t need to. You just need to be there to support them if they need anything, or to help if they need it.

I grew up in Maraetai, in East Auckland, and I’ve lived there my entire life. I just finished Howick College. I left at Year 12 to come and do my mechanics course, and something I value in life? I value my family and my friends. I value doing things. I don’t enjoy sitting at home. I’d rather do something. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as I’m out there experiencing things. I love going on road trips. I love just exploring my country.

This year the course is mostly online, so I only come into Ōtara maybe once a month or once every couple of weeks, and I work on cars in practicals and stuff like that, and then next year I’m hoping to get an apprenticeship somewhere, and then in the future hopefully move to Australia and work in the mines on the big machines and stuff like that.”