My superpower

MY

superpower

BOBBY TRUNLEY WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM AT FOUR YEARS OLD. BOBBY STRUGGLED THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE TRYING TO FIT IN, WHILST DEALING WITH BULLYING AND DISCRIMINATION AT MANY LEVELS. LITTLE DID HE KNOW HIS OBSESSION FOR TOY CARS AND SPINNING THEIR WHEELS WOULD BE THE WAY FORWARD TO A FULFILLING AND HAPPY FUTURE.

MY SUPERPOWER

I was born with a superpower. I didn’t know it for the majority of my life because I thought my Autism was more of a curse than a gift. I couldn’t get the words that were in my head to come out because when I tried to speak they would come out wrong, so I gave up. I would get angry and frustrated because I couldn’t say how I felt, what I needed and what I wanted to do. It made me anxious so I would take myself away and find my own world with the things I loved the most, my toy cars. I had hundreds and I loved them. I loved the ones with the smoothest turning wheels, these were always the fastest. If the wheels turned freely they would shoot across the floor and I would imagine they were on a race track. I spent hours spinning their wheels, listening closely for the sound which told me the car would be fast. I would then choose the best and the racing would start. I still have every car packed away in the loft. Memories of the many happy hours spent. Starting school was the hardest thing for me. I didn’t speak well and found it hard to make friends. Playtime couldn’t come quick

enough. The toy cars would come out of my bag and the quiet corner of the playground would become my race track. I would spend every school hour dreaming of cars. I couldn’t get them out of my head.

When I was ten I was invited to a karting party, I really wanted to go but I was petrified. When I arrived I became overwhelmed with all the children, the noise inside the building and the smell of the karts. My senses were in overload and I ran for the door refusing to go back in. My friend’s mum asked if I could have a go in a kart when all the children were having a break. After much persuasion I went back inside and discovered the very thing I had been searching for. A sense of freedom, calm and control. When the helmet went on my head the noise and the smells faded away. My anxiety calmed and I was able to listen to what I wanted to hear…how to drive that kart. That afternoon I won my first race. Not in my dreams, not with a toy car but with my own skill. I found my courage, I had control and I felt free. I found my superpower and I will never let it go. It’s who I am and what drives me to be the best I can be. Secondary school passed in a haze of anxiety. There were bullies, there was pressure and there was a deep sadness that I would never fit in. College was pretty much the same but I passed my Level three motor vehicle studies despite my dyspraxia. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find employment within the motor vehicle industry because my dyspraxia makes me too slow and clumsy with the tools. I’m sure given time and patience I could overcome this but there is too much pressure on employers to get jobs done quickly, to give me the time. This is something that needs to be addressed with new initiatives for employers to give disabled people the chance to learn and grow within their chosen careers. Teachers might have been frustrated with me, the bullies laughed at me but through it all I knew I had something they didn’t. I had my superpower. Outside of school and college I was a winner. I was winning races and making friends because of my racing. To this day I still struggle to talk about many things and finding the right words is still a cause of anxiety to me but when it comes to my racing the words flow. I can listen and learn because my mind doesn’t wander when I’m talking about real racing not just dreams. I became a five times national kart racing champion. In 2014 I became a Ginneta Junior Scholarship finalist out of 60 participants. I had only sat in the car three times. In 2016 I was awarded the Anna Kennedy OBE Autism Hero Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sport. In 2017 I was awarded the INAP Award for Excellence in sport at the ANCA World Autism Festival in Vancouver and in 2018 I received the Disabled Motoring UK Young Achiever Award. I specialise in endurance racing because of my ability to consistently put in fast laps within tenths of a second over and over again. I have taken part in many charity kart racing events because people have asked me to be part of their team. It gives me great satisfaction to be able to use my skills and be part of something which helps others. It was because of one of the charity kart racing events that I became part of the fantastic Team BRIT. I was racing in the Damon Hill Karting Challenge in aid of the “Halow Project” when Warren McKinlay who was one of the top racers with Team BRIT spotted me and introduced me to Dave Player the founder of Team BRIT. I was invited for test drive to see if I could become part of the team. I cannot begin to explain how excited I was. I knew I could race a car as I had been a finalist in the Ginetta Junior Scholarship but I also knew that racing a car was beyond my expectations because of the funds and support I would need to compete. To be offered such a chance was an indescribable feeling. My test day was a success and Dave invited me to join the team. With the united effort of the whole team in front and behind the scenes, I went on to win four out of five races in my first year racing cars. I am now racing the team’s beautiful Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 in the Britcar Endurance Series. All this from the boy who was told he would never be allowed to drive a car on the road because of his autism to where I am today. Never accept the words of doubters. If you know you can do something prove them wrong, find people who believe in you and you will achieve. Team BRIT is not a charity it is a competitive race team reliant on sponsors and partnerships to enable