Of doors and clocks and running

My name is Harrison Walter. I was born at St. Mary Corwin Hospital in Pueblo, Colorado. I was diagnosed with autism at The Children's Hospital in Denver when I was almost four years old. Due to my autism, I learn and process things differently than other people. It is also challenging for me to develop relationships with others. With my autism, I also have elements of ADHD, dyscalculia, and Tourette’s syndrome. I grew up in Westcliffe, Colorado, and I attended Custer County School pre-K through 12th grade. I'm the only known person diagnosed with autism to have gone through all 13 years in this school. My favorite class was art and Carrie Smith was my art teacher for 12 years. One of my best friends, Mara Backsen, who was in school with me until she moved away in fifth grade, helped me out through elementary school. Even though I am different from other people, I do not like to be called “disabled,” but rather someone who is neurodiverse. However, due to my difficulties, I had to have aides present with me in the classroom early on. This extended to middle school. Gradually through high school, I was able to function without an aide.

Early on in my childhood I was obsessed with doors, locks and door closers, as well as roads and clocks. In fact, I filled the walls of our utility room with dozens of cheap clocks purchased from Family Dollar and other ones that people from local businesses gave me. These clocks were all set to different time zones and I had printed out city labels and taped them on the wall underneath each clock. My curiosity about the doors kind of drove my parents crazy, especially at restaurants. I would just constantly open and close the doors. Of course, this obsession subsided over time. 

One of the clocks I had was an Audubon Society Singing Bird Clock, which would play a different bird song every hour. One day when I took it outside, I was turning the knob. I noticed that one of the burros named Jimi started snorting and running around in circles. I had no idea at first why this was happening until I figured out that it was the bird at 2 o’clock, a.k.a. the Northern Mockingbird, that triggered his snorting. I think this was because of him confusing it for some sort of predator or warning. Also, this was repeatable. So, every time I played that bird, Jimi would snort.

I have been a fan of Apple products since I was very young. One time, my parents took me to the Apple Store, and it felt like I was in Disneyland. When I saw an iPad on display, I was able to operate it in mere seconds. I got my first iPad when I was in the second grade. A lot of other devices followed. From the very beginning, Apple products have been an essential part of my daily life. I feel like a self-made expert on the Apple “ecosystem” and company. I am a virtual encyclopedia of the history and evolution of Apple products throughout the years, including specs, software releases, etc.

I am a runner. I live in Colorado. I often train at places near our home at Bear Basin Ranch near Westcliffe. I have been running competively since middle school, and ran hundreds of races in cross-country and track through high school. We traveled to meets in places like Avon, Gunnison, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Salida and Monte Vista. Running on a team gave me a feeling of belonging and a built-in group of friends. Having a good race made me feel great. Running cross country and track gave me an awesome sense of belonging and accomplishment, and would eventually fuel my dream of running in college.

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