First generation Chinese-American Henry Zhang shares his story in "Dragons on the Spectrum."
After nearly being institutionalized for his rage—caused by people close to him claiming he had no future due to him being autistic with ADHD along with ableism prevalent in the AAPI community—Henry (Hen) Zhang got his life together with the help of an MMA gym that gave him a place to train in exchange for tech support, somebody he fell in love with—a classmate who taught him social skills—and a fellow martial artist who connected with him due to shared activities.
Zhang moved up the professional ladder (initially masking as a neurotypical), as a school psychologist, a doctoral student, and by running his own tech start-up when he encountered a new problem in 2020: a violent form of anti-Asian racism that the country pretends does not exist.
From this, Zhang was forced to use what he learned in leading a double life, with the help of people he formed relationships with, by kicking off an initiative that helps keep those around him out of the hospital or morgue, all while being a psychology doctoral student in a school that is oblivious to what his community has to face.
To read more of Henry Zhang’s story, you can get his book "Dragons on the Spectrum" on Amazon.
Zhang also offers self-defense classes through Dragon Combat Club (@dragoncombatclub) in NYC and remotely. Sign up here to get more information.