Meet 17-year-old Matt Sedwick who has autism

Meet 17-year-old Matt Sedwick who has autism.

Matt pulls his Larrymobile toy out from under his bed and glides it across the floor on his day from school in Glendale, AZ. Matt is fixated with shows and characters like Larry the Cucumber, Cat in the Hat and Charlie Brown illustrating his remarkable attention to detail and love for movies and cartoons.

Matt pulls out all of his Cat in the Hat books from under his TV. Cat in the Hat is one of Matt's favorite cartoon characters.

Matt slides a Yugioh card into his duel disk launcher and demonstrates how to play the game. Matt apprears to know every detail, rule and function of Yugioh cards and the TV show. He is very focused and clings on to specific subjects, games and movies.

Matt and his mom Shelley Donald make a deal regarding a task that Matt is not fond of doing at their home in Glendale, AZ . Shelley explains to Matt that she owes him $20 if he completes this task. With Matt's autism, Shelley and some of Matt's teachers use a reward system that helps Matt focus and achieve work at school and at home.

Matt and his mom go over the steps required for Matt to get his food handlers license for one of his courses at high school.

Matt, a junior at Deer Valley high school, watches a trailer for the movie Holes, one of his favorites. Matt can repeat almost every line. This is one quirk, as his mom calls it, of his autism. Since he was young, Matt has had a fixation on shows and movies. He can watch and immediately repeat many of the lines and themes of the film or episode with ease.

Shelley, like any inquisitive mom, questions Matt after he mentions that he might ask a girl in his class to prom. Matt's responses are hypothetical as he doesn't want to give away all of his secrets. Shelley says this is the first time he's ever mentioned prom or going on a date in general. She tries to tame her excitement to keep Matt talking.

At 6:30 a.m. Matt is the first one up in his home. He makes his way downstairs to let the dogs out through their laundry room. Despite Matt’s autism, his morning is not unlike any other teenage boy’s. After weeks, months and years of practice and learning these basic individual tasks are becoming a routine; he now wakes himself up most days, gets changed, let’s the dogs outside, eats breakfast, and heads out the door to join the other high school students on the bus.

Matt and his mother review homework before he heads of to school. As a student with autism, Matt usually gets assignments like study guides a few days in advance to give him time to complete it and allows him extra time to digest the material and complete the work.

After waking up and getting ready, Matt grabs a carrot from the fridge and pops in his mouth as begins cooking scrambled eggs for the first time with his mother’s direction.

Around 6:45 a.m. Matt looks over his study guide after eating breakfast.

Shelley goes over her son Matt's study guide, checking off the correct answers and questions he should focus on for his test before he goes to school. Shelley keeps relatively close relations with many of Matt's regular teachers and special education teachers as he often receives study guides early and a bit of extra assistance in all of his classes except math. Matt has more freedom in courses like Algebra, Anatomy and Physiology.

Before leaving to catch the school bus, Matt helps his mom unload and load the dishwasher. By 7 a.m. Matt has himself ready and out the door. 

Matt gives his mom a kiss and heads out the door to catch the school bus. Like any other teenager, Matt has become more independent and responsible with age. His autism may still impact his persona and personality, but does not affect how he takes care of himself. 

Matt gets himself on the bus and to school. At 17, Matt has become very independent. His mom Shelley recalls, "Matt required lots of help with school back then. The older he has gotten, the easier it gets.”