My name is Alexander William Tighe. I was born in Bishop Auckland general hospital on August 15th 1997. I was born a few weeks early. Doctors informed my parents that I would have a condition called Cerebral palsy. Lucky I never had this condition however I have short term memory problems which can effect everyday life.
When I left hospital I lived in Toft Hill near Bishop Auckland. I lived here for quite a few years. My sister was born then we moved to Staindrop near Barnard Castle. I then moved back to a small area outside of Bishop Auckland. We moved later on to a house further closer to Bishop Auckland.
When I lived in Staindrop I attended Staindrop CE Primary school. I was known as the spider catcher as I was not scared of spiders. As school life went on I became friends with an awful lot of people with me. I became a huge fan of the farming community of course I did. It was Staindrop! I began to enjoy music. I loved classical music. I began by learning guitar, after a few months I gave up and moved to Piano. As time went on I stuck in at playing piano and enjoyed it. Mum and dad bought me a piano which I loved and played all the time. As time went on I became more involved in the community, helping my next door neighbours with jobs such as cutting the grass and gardening. I did all sorts with people in the area.
At school I was well known. I remember having a few friends. People in the farming community were good friends. I had a few friends such as Alice and Daisy. School was good fun. Mum and dad then spilt up and we moved to a smaller house at the top end of town where we lived for a few more years. I use to play cricket on North Green all the time. The old man would always watch and wait for the ball so he could steal it and complain.
Then I met Paul and Sara. They came round all the time. Then moved in. we lived in Staindrop for a few more months.
I remember Staindrop very well. I could go on about the town whenever I travel through the town it brings back memories and I try to spot people I know. So far I have not found anyone!
The next step in life was moving back to Bishop Auckland. I went on to study at St Andrew Primary School. This was from year 4 onwards. At St Andrews I found more friends from Bishop Auckland. I don’t remember much too be honest. I remember teachers, I remember leaving and I remember some kids. Living in Bishop allowed us to be closer to the town. We never lived in the middle of know where. We were near the family.
When I left St Andrews in 2008 I moved to King James I community Arts College as it was known then. I began by becoming well known to teachers. I became quite a well-known student. Then the bullying started. It soon stopped. I was then rewarded by been placed in the music department for a day. Dream come true. I remember that day. I worked with some kid called Joe for most of the day.
I don’t remember much from my early days of King James, I can remember options evening and picking my options which were ICT, photography and Music. We then began our options which I really enjoyed doing. King James opened so many doors. The staff were so helpful and really tried to get the best out of you at all times.
As my time closed it was time to decide in where I would go after year 11. My decision came to say on for Sixth form. I completed by exams and began my study leave. Study leave was around 11 weeks. Finally it came to results day, mum went. She came back with great news.
An A in Photography, B in Music, 2 B’s in Science, C in ICT and RE. Then D in English and E in maths.
Over the course of year 11 I was been tested for a condition for Autism. During the six weeks I attended a wide range of occupational therapy courses to try and improve awareness in me. The course was for 45 mins a week and ran for 6 week. I was been tested at Camhs in Newton Aycliffe.
I was then diagnosed with Autism in 2012 after almost three years of testing.
When I returned to King James for year 12 in sixth form I had picked three subjects which I decided to study. These were Music, Media (print base) and Photography. Year 12 was a hard year. I lost loads of friends, It was an awful year! I continued to do my work and sick in at education. I completed my photography exams this was the only subject I had an exam in except maths and English. I was half a mark of an A in my exam which was so disappointing.
At the beginning of the six weeks holidays I became close friends with a young girl called Brittany who was like my best mate. We would speak all the time and would be there for each other. For me this was a huge step. It was amazing to have a close friend.
As year 13 I started again and only had three friends after the year before hand however this was not going to stop me. As year 13 went on I became friends with so many new people. Well not many four new ones. I found my own place to hang out in school which was the music department. More and more people who loved music came to the music department which cr