By Lucía Guerrero Chabaneix
Once upon a time, on November 29th, 2003, I was born to join Ignacio and Joaquín, my older brothers, and my mom and dad. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always felt that I did not fit into society and that the way I saw the world was different from other children, but I didn’t know how to understand or express these feelings.
Even though I appeared “normal,” there were aspects of my motor skill development and behavior that led my parents to suspect something wasn’t quite right. I spent many years attending all kinds of therapies, seeing psychologists and doctors, but none of them gave an accurate diagnosis. Some mentioned sensory immaturity, delayed or slow development, anxiety, or simply said I was spoiled and overprotected.
At age 13, a neurologist introduced a new possibility and said we might suspect Asperger’s, though he wasn’t certain. It wasn’t until my fourth semester at university, during a course called Learning Difficulties I, that I realized many of the characteristics of autism deeply resonated with me. We decided to look for a specialist who evaluated autistic adults, and that’s when I finally received a diagnosis: I am, in fact, an autistic person, level 1.
Despite these challenges, I can say I had a happy childhood, spending good times with my family.
At school, it was a constant challenge for me to adapt to a system that was, for sure, not designed for people like me. I followed rules, studied hard, and did my best to keep up, but always sensed something was missing.
School and friendships often felt like sources of pressure rather than experiences of acceptance and understanding. Days and years went by. I was capable and creative. I succeeded academically and finished school. Yet, I never truly felt seen, understood, or empowered by the traditional education system.
Until the day I had to make the difficult decision of choosing a career after graduating high school.
I explored different paths like Communication, Psychology, Photography, and Marketing. Then one day, I realized that I loved being around children and had always shared a special connection with them. I also realized that my difficult experience in school, my struggles with learning, and my journey through misunderstanding could become a purpose rather than a weakness. Becoming a teacher would allow me to use that experience to help children have a better, more supportive learning journey.
And here I am, in my last year of university, aiming to become the type of educator who understands, supports, and believes in every child’s potential, and dreaming of doing my best to transform education through connection, empathy, understanding, and respect for each child’s learning process.