When a mother had a brilliant idea of teaching her son with autism about the world around him through animated and cartoon videos, she could not have imagined that she was planting the seeds for a budding animator. As a young boy Diego formed a deep connection with the characters in the shows he watched. Through the years he has developed his skills as a 2-D hand-drawn animator while incorporating the characters that have been part of his life since childhood. Diego has successfully completed many animation projects including "The Time Travelers" and "Couboi Faykand". We are proud of Diego for his accomplishments.

How did you become interested in Hand-Drawn Animation?D: When I was a child, my mother wanted to teach me about life and how it works. To do so, she decided to show me multiple videos for children. Many of those videos happened to be animated cartoons and movies. What happened was that I took the characters in those videos as my closest friends. Also, I truly loved to draw when I was a child. My love of those videos, coupled in with my love of drawing, eventually helped me to discover my destiny: 2D Hand-Drawn Animation.

What is your own favorite animated creation so far and why?D: So far, I prefer my Sophomore Film Couboi Faykand and the Wild West. This was the first animation project I had ever created, and it is my pride and joy. I liked drawing the characters and backgrounds by myself, and I loved recording the dialogue from the voice actors. In this short film, the voices came from three senior students, a fellow sophomore, myself, and best of all, a child for the voice of Waffle. I loved every single part of this project, from preproduction to postproduction.

What are your other hobbies?D: I prefer to spend my time researching on animation's history. Sometimes I watch DVDs, but lately most of my research has been on the internet. Therefore, it looks like my main hobby is using the internet. When I am not using the internet for research, I choose between playing internet games and watching various videos on YouTube. You see, my reason for gaming is not really for the game itself, but more for the numbers. As the numbers slowly grow while I score points, those numbers help me think of various things. Needless to say, gaming and calculating math are two more hobbies I like.

What is your favorite place to visit and why?D: Some would say my favorite place to visit is a professional studio. Whenever I step into one of those studios, all I can think about is what it will be like when I become a professional animator. It is also interesting to hear all the stories the crew has to tell about working there. In fact, most of the studio workers are very friendly indeed. They always seem happy to see me, and they claim to love the work I have already done. Still one other place I enjoy going to is Rocky's. This is an arcade with various video games to play. As someone who likes to watch the numbers on the scoreboard, I like to play the games featured in that arcade and watch my own numbers change.

What do you like to do when you are with your friends/family?D: Often I join my family in visiting multiple restaurants. Most of the time, I am joined by my grandfather. He loves going out to eat, especially to places that serve burgers. One place everyone in my family loves to go to is Red Robin. That restaurant has something for everyone.

Any special message for our community?D:  For those of you who have autism, I have some very important advise. Don't take your autism as a weakness. Instead, take it as a sign that you have a hidden talent. Something to hone and train. Something that will one day help you achieve great things. You should take your autism as a gift; a gift you are very lucky to have. As for trouble with friends, take your autism as a REASON for people to become friends with you. They can learn more about what autism is, and that will in turn make them more accepting of people who are different from them. Your autism is a gift, not a disease.