Navigating Neurodiversity
By: Harrison Lionberger
My name is Harrison Lionberger. I'm from Roanoke, Virginia and I have Asperger's Syndrome. I was a student manager for the women's soccer, women's basketball, and men's lacrosse teams at Roanoke College, a Division III school in Salem, Virginia. In high school, I was also a student manager, working with the football, volleyball, and girls' basketball and soccer teams.
When I was younger, having Aspergers was challenging for a few reasons. First, a lot of the information and appreciation that we have today for neurodivergent syndromes were not widely available (I was born in early 1998 and Asperger's wasn't recognized as an Autism Spectrum Disorder until 2013). Second, it felt like a barrier that kept me from participating in any activities that involved social involvement like sports, music, etc. Asperger's can often be associated with a lot of other secondary issues such as sensitivity to sound or light (sound, in my case), ADHD, or dyslexia. As a result of Asperger's, I have dealt with high levels of anxiety, some depression at times, high levels of self-criticism, and OCD over the years working with athletic teams, along with all the things life throws at you. I also felt like I was in no position to socialize or even try to make friends when I was younger, so I kept to myself a lot in elementary school and even in middle school.
“High school was where I made the transition from being quiet and isolated to becoming a confident young adult.”
When I was in 7th grade, I made some friends on the volleyball and girls’ soccer teams at the school and started going to some of their games. This really got me outside of my shell and opened me up for the first time in my life. In the spring of my 8th grade year, I was invited to be the student manager of the girls’ soccer team at my middle school, and this was one of the first big steps I took into the world of sports. High school was where I made the transition from being quiet and isolated to becoming a confident young adult. I credit the teams that I worked with in high school for this, especially the girls’ basketball team because the players and coaches taught me just about everything about life (proper eye contact, handshaking techniques, communication, etc). When I got to college, I enjoyed the brand new experience of freshman year. However, when my sophomore year came around, I began to get burned out. I was going nonstop from soccer to basketball to lacrosse and working for the athletic department year round. My junior year in college was really tough and caused a lot of anxiety. I worked with the athletic department as an event management intern for fall sports and did not feel supported by the coaches. I rejoined the women's soccer team my senior year and it felt like coming home because the team really felt like a family. I was really crushed when the season ended, and we often referred to ourselves as "non-athletic regular people" for the rest of our time in college, which was something that I wasn’t ready to accept. I spent as much time as I could in the athletic department before the pandemic took place.
“ I aspire to be a coach because I want to give back to the world of women’s sports. ”
I aspire to be a coach because I want to give back to the world of women's sports. Growing up around positive female athletes really helped me become who I am today. I was an assistant girls’ lacrosse coach at North Cross School in nearby Roanoke my junior year of high school and absolutely loved it. As a manager, I felt I was used to do the behind the scenes work and nothing else a lot of times, and a lot of my anxiety, self-criticism, and OCD stems from that. I constantly feel like I have to think about the future and plan ahead or else what I want to achieve in life won't happen. During the pandemic, I felt like I was in hell with no sports occurring and the whole world standing still. I was able to find a job after graduation at Hidden Valley High School, my alma mater, as an instructional assistant and as an assistant girls’ basketball coach. It was great to be back there helping out the kids, but it caused a lot of anxiety because people sometimes see you as an old version they used to know, not who you have become.
Today, I am an instructional assistant at an elementary school in the Roanoke area. I work as an assistant girls’ basketball coach at William Byrd High School in Vinton, Virginia with my former high school coach. I also recently joined the school’s volleyball team as an assistant coach and am an assistant coach for the Terrier Lacrosse Club.
Thank you for listening to my story. I hope that this shows people out there that you are not alone, and perseverance will get you anywhere.
(Edited version 3/1/22)
