Meet Sam Leonard. He is a senior at Naperville Central who loves “Sharknado,” despite his fear of sharks, and Netflix. His favorite class is art, and he just recently obtained two jobs. In the future, Sam hopes to work with animals, and he feels a very close bond with his family.

Sam seems just like every student at Central, except for one key difference: Sam has autism.

He has been attending Giant Steps, a special school for kids with autism since seventh grade, and this year he has started coming to Central.

Sam has formed strong relationships throughout his life. He met his best friend, Jimmy, who also has autism, at Giant Steps.

“I go to his house, or he comes to my house, that kind of stuff,” Sam said. “When he comes over, we usually watch a movie or play games. Not adventure kind of video games, [we play] combat video games, where we fight each other.”

Sam also has friends who attend Central.

“I talk to some friends that really like being my friend like junior Connor [Joyce] and senior Chris [Redgate] that I mostly get to see in P.E.,” Sam said.

Joyce and Redgate are members of Sam’s adapted PE tribe. They recently ventured out to Brunswick Zone every day for their bowling unit. Even though he said he was not the best at bowling, Sam admitted to being “a little good” at pool.

Another friend that Sam has at Central comes from his own home. Freshman Max Leonard started high school the same year his brother. Max said that most of his friends know he has a brother who has autism, and he has come to accept it.

“At times [it is difficult], but I’ve gotten better at it,” Max said. “It was harder when I was young because I didn’t understand it, but now I’ve gotten used to it.”

The brothers agree that they definitely have a sibling rivalry.

“He’ll be annoying, so I’ll be annoying back,” Max said with a laugh.

When Sam was at a loss for words on his favorite movie, Max quickly jumped in, “You should tell her about ‘The Car.’”

“That’s my favorite horror movie,” Sam said. “‘The Car’ is about a possessed car. Possessed by Satan perhaps.”

“That’s literally it. A possessed car,” Max said, as he and his brother laughed.

In the end, Sam says he feels the most support from his family, like Max, his parents and his grandparents, who he affectionately refers to as “Bee and Pops.”

Sam recently gained some responsibilities at school. He received two jobs from Central. On Mondays, he works at the humane society doing laundry, walking dogs and playing with kittens. On Wednesdays, he works at Tabor Hills, a senior living campus, setting tables.

Mondays are Sam’s favorite days because he loves the animals.

“I still like humans; I just like animals more,” he said. “Mostly because they are cuddly and have interesting ways of living.”

When asked the infamous cat vs. dog question, Sam responded, “I’m leaning towards cats.”

At home, he has two cats, a dog and a hamster. He also has an extensive knowledge of sharks, despite his fear, and dinosaurs.

“I like [dinosaurs] a lot mostly because we get to find out lots about them every day,” Sam said. “I like to learn about life before the age of humans and before the ice age.”

Even though he has some friends, plays video games, has a sibling rivalry, has a favorite movie and loves animals just like a normal kid, Sam says he struggles with autism. What Sam truly wants is to be liked and to feel like a normal high school student.

Many people with autism are nonverbal, but Sam, luckily, is not. The ability to communicate helps him feel more like a normal kid, which makes him happy.

“[Autism] proves to be challenging to deal with at some events,” Sam said. “Like when I have to answer a question right away, it usually takes me quite some time to think of a good answer.”

According to Sam, people treat him differently because they think he is stupid when in reality he is not.

“[It makes me feel] like I’m an outcast, like I’m not accepted,” he said.

While most students at Central strive to be noticed, Sam’s one true wish is just to fit in and be normal.

“I hope that someday when I am still alive they will eventually find a cure for my autism and autism for other autistic boys and girls,” Sam said. “That would be nice.”