My name is John. I am a graduate from Trent University Durham GTA with a joint honours bachelor’s degree in Child & Youth Studies and Psychology and will be starting my Master of Psychology at Trent University in September 2025. In September of 2023 I founded the Oshawa Dungeons & Dragons Club a social group for neurodivergent youth, a project that was a collaboration between Trent University, TeachingCity, and the City of Oshawa. The program uses an approach that empowers youth and fosters a sense of belonging while enjoying a game of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). My undergraduate thesis focused on the experiences of youth participating in the D&D program.

I am neurodivergent, but did not receive a diagnosis until I was 30 years old. Throughout my youth I struggled in school. Until grade 7 I knew that I was dumb, my grade 6 teacher even gave me the nickname Dimmy Dimwit. That changed in grade 7 when our new principal gave all of the grade 7 students an IQ test to decide which class we would be placed in. That day I went from being dumb to being lazy. Instead of Dimmy Dimwit, I became he has so much potential but he is just too lazy. In reality other than a number on a piece of paper nothing had changed for me. Expectations increased, but my ability to meet expectations had not changed. It was not that I did not try, I just could not get things right. I came to believe that I was too dumb and too lazy to learn.

My diagnosis changed my perspective of who I was, and in 2009 I enrolled in Electronics Engineering Technology at Durham College. It was difficult at times but I graduated in 2012, and spent the next 10 years as an Aerospace Telecommunications and Information Systems (ATIS) Technician for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). In 2021 I retired from the CAF after 22 years (I had been a postal clerk prior to becoming an ATIS tech). I enrolled in Trent University in a Psychology and Child & Youth Studies joint major, and completed it in April 2025. I will graduate with honours in June 2025, and begin my masters in psychology in September 2025.

I was never too dumb or too lazy to learn, I lacked the skills necessary to learn in a way that was effective for me, and I lacked the opportunity to develop those skills. I can not go back in time and help a younger me, but I can support youth who today face challenges similar to those that I faced.

Who am I?