2007 - when then Senator Barack Obama held a large rally in NYC, signaling a more assertive tone in his presidential campaign [google.com] while I was chilling in the NICU at our Savior Hospital in Rosario, Cavite, Philippines after 8 months and 1 week being held captive in my mother's womb.

Hi, my name is Akira ["Akira" in Japanese can be written in Hiragana as あきら, in Katakana as アキラ (like the famous movie logo), or with various Kanji characters, most commonly 明 (bright, clear) or 晶 (sparkling), with the specific Kanji determining the nuance of the name, such as brightness or intelligence][google.com]. I am 18 years old, and a 12th grader at Great Bridge High School. Am I excited to graduate highschool? YES! so, I can be untied from the IEP that I don't really like but hey Mom said "I needed it!"

I am a mix of multiple ethnicity - 50.9% Filipino & Austronesian, 0.6% Southern Chinese & Taiwanese, 22.2% Czech, Hungarian, Slovak & Southern Polish, 2.1% Belarusian, Polish & Ukrainian, 26.6% Southern Italian (Campania, Italy ), 0.4% Levantine (Syria, Jordan) and 0.2% Iranian, Caucasian & Mesopotamian - Whew! that's A LOT!!!

I was raised in the Philippines for the first 2 years of my life before we moved to the United States in 2009. I lived in Westchester County, New York for the time being and was diagnosed with PDD-NOS and started getting therapy at home (OT, PT, Speech and ABA). Most of the time I took care of my self, I spent time watching TV (Nihao Kailan, Dora, Yo Gabba Gabba etc), I get my self busy with numbers and I started reading before I turned 3 years old. I was enrolled at Jewish Community Center in Scardale, New York when I turned 3 to help with social skills and communication but it didnt really work as there were no follow-up at home. My mom has to work so much and I think she felt I am being neglected so she sent me back home to the Philippines before I turned 4. My grandmother took care of me while I was there, my mom went back to New York to work and to be able to pay for the special school I went to. In the Philippines, special needs kids are not funded by tax payers money because they feel they are not responsible for that. I still didnt communicate until I turned 6 and started speaking both languages (Tagalog and English)

I stayed in the Philippines for 4 years until my grandmother passed away because of lung cancer and my mom's only choice is to take me back to the US and figure out how she would handle everything which is pretty much all by herself.

... to be continued