Background
Matthew is 30 years old and lives with his family in Massachusetts. He describes himself as an outgoing self-advocate: “I speak my mind and just fight for disability and autism awareness.” He also enjoys working out and going out for drives. Matthew likes to write and recently published his first book, a collection of poetry.
What’s Important
Matthew was inspired to study human services after seeing both his parents’ longstanding careers in the field and the way they interacted with their clients. He looked up to both his aunt and uncle who advocated tirelessly before and after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for greater access to community spaces for people with disabilities.
He shared that he “always wanted to help individuals who have disabilities.” Matthew decided to pursue a certificate in human services from his local community college. The transition from high school to college was challenging, especially after taking a year off, but Matthew quickly met a professor who became a trusted mentor. He could go to this professor with any trouble he had with his classes or talk about his personal life. He also shared that the professor supported his passion for writing.
After graduating in 2019, Matthew volunteered for several community organizations as he looked for opportunities to pursue his passions. His mother introduced him to the Blue Envelope program, which helps to spread awareness about autism to local police departments. Matthew shared:
"I was really happy to hear that there's a program that helps individuals who have autism, because I have autism, and so it was important for me to tell the police departments about autism if they didn't know what it was."
He went on to describe the program as:
"…a program that helps individuals who have autism in case they get pulled over. They have this card that's blue and there's instructions for the individual and there's also instructions for the police officer. So, it makes the interaction less stressful and hopefully better for both parties."
Through the program, Matthew trains first responders on how to better support people with autism, people who are D/deaf, or those who have other disabilities. He shared about his work:
"Autism is a very difficult disability to learn and to understand. So, I inform them just what it is, and how each person's autism is different, but also, how they can interact with that individual who has autism, or who has a disability, and just different signs to point out, you know: If the hands are shaking, if they're fumbling with their words, if they're not directly looking at the police officer. So, I tell them different ways of: ‘Here's what this individual might do.’ "
Matthew started with Blue Envelope by partnering with his local police department to train officers and has since expanded to different towns.
Matthew has always loved to write, and while volunteering, he decided to dedicate time to pursuing this passion for writing as well. Matthew joined a writing group that allowed him to connect with peers around his passions for advocacy and writing. Matthew has wanted to publish his work for a long time, sharing, “I've been a poet for a very long time now, and for a very long time, I've wanted to get published, but I didn't know how.” The writing group provided him with the connection to others who have done this:
"I joined a writing group that's a part of an organization called Association for Autism and Neurodiversity. Within this group, we get guest speakers and writers, published authors, and they’ve told us a lot about their process and how they got published. So just that knowledge of getting all this information, I kind of knew of, like, okay, this is kind of how it works…”
Through his experience working with human services agencies, pursuing higher education, volunteering with the Blue Envelope project, and dedicating time to his poetry, Matthew has been able to turn his active engagement in his community through the writing group into an opportunity for self-employment as a published author.
What Happened
In the last few years, Matthew has been volunteering as a self-advocate, educating his community about disability. He continues to volunteer with the Blue Envelope project in his community and the surrounding area. He decided to continue his studies and has graduated with his associate’s degree in child and family services. Matthew has plans to further his education and is applying to a 4-year liberal arts college. All the while, he continues to advocate for himself and others, “helping the community as much as I can,” he shared.
Matthew also spoke to the growth he found through being a member of a writing group, noting that he “learned a lot about the publishing world and how to navigate it” through this process. Using what he learned from being part of the writing group, Matthew went through several drafts of his full book of poems. Then, following his dream of being a published author, Matthew reached out to several local publishers and found one who agreed to publish his book. As of February of 2026, Matthew is the published author of a poetry collection, Tales from the Other Side. Now, he is writing poems for a second book.
When asked to share advice for other people, Matthew says, “I would say never give up, you know, just even if you hit rock bottom.”
Lessons Learned
You can turn your passion into an opportunity for self-employment. Matthew was always passionate about writing and knew he wanted to publish a book. Matthew joined a writing group where he could learn about the process and become a published author. If you have a passion you want to pursue, you can learn how to turn your passion into an opportunity for self-employment.
Higher education can help you work toward future employment goals. Matthew pursued community college to explore the human services field and what employment opportunities it could present. From there, he decided to continue his education in more specific studies. Higher education can provide opportunities to find meaningful employment in the community.
You can find fulfillment through community engagement based on your interests. Matthew’s interest in human services and supporting others with disabilities led him to dedicate his time to volunteering with police departments in his local community. Volunteering provides meaningful ways for Matthew to engage in his community. If you have an interest you would like to pursue, explore opportunities to engage in your community and connect with organizations that can support your passions.
For more information, contact: Jean Winsor at jean.winsor@umb.edu