User:Andreagtz99/sandbox

Summary
Anthony Ianni is currently 31 years old. When he was four years old, he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not otherwise specified. This disorder is on the spectrum for Autism. Doctors told his parents that this condition basically means that he would never achieve much in life. This includes barely graduating high school, college is not an option, probably live in a group institution with other Autistic kids for his adult life and most certainly, never become an athlete. Anthony did not accept this path that was set out for him. He and his family used this as a motivation to do great things and pledged they will make him successful no matter what. He went on to become the first person with autism to ever play First Division basketball and won the NCAA National Championship with the Michigan Spartans in 2000. Today, Ianni spends his time as a well-known motivational speaker. He encourages young people, especially those with autism to let nothing hold them back. This includes doctors, family, friends and even themselves. He tries to encourage them to always try to achieve their dreams, even when everybody is telling them they cannot.

Early Life
Anthony Ianni was born on January 10, 1989 in East Lansing, Michigan. He knew he was different from the other kids growing up. In elementary school he had an aid to help him in class. In middle school he would have to go to a resource classroom for further assistance. Anthony also had a hard time understanding sarcasm and jokes. He took everything for its literal meaning. Anthony states in a podcast interview, “So, for example, if somebody had told the 5-year-old me that 'It's raining cats and dogs outside,' well, a majority of the population knows that it’s pouring down rain. Where the 5-year-old me would have ran out the door, you know, going outside and hoping that a cat or a dog will literally fall into my arms."

Anthony wanted to be popular in school and make people laugh. He thought that the best way to do this was to imitate people on TV. "Curly was my favorite of The Three Stooges," Anthony says, "and so, for example, Curly did a sound effect where he goes 'nyuk, nyuk, nyuk,' and I did that all the time in the hallways. I mean, I did the hand gestures that The Three Stooges did all the time. And people who weren’t my friends, who got a glimpse of it in the hallways, encouraged me to go on and on and on. And, you know, looking back on it, I wasn’t the guy who was making people laugh. I was the guy that people were laughing at.” Even though Anthony was the tallest and biggest in his class, it did not stop the bullies from targeting him. "When I started off in sixth grade, I was 6-feet tall with a size 13 shoe," he says. "And, you know, people called me so many names, like the 'Jolly Green Giant' or, you know, the Giant Peach from 'James and the Giant Peach.' I had people call me that one time, and it's, like, you know, people kept egging on and on and on and on about it. And it drove me crazy to the point where I was on the floor crying and just telling people to stop." It was not until Anthony was done with middle school, entering his freshman year when his family sat him down to tell him about the story of his diagnosis. When they told him how the doctors said that he would amount to nothing, his first reaction was, “Who would say that about a little kid?” Which caused him to think "Let’s go shut people up," he remembers thinking, "Let’s go prove these doctors and experts wrong. Let’s show them why you are not going to be in a group institution. And so, I kind of had this checklist in my head, you know, after my parents sat me down. And the checklist was: graduate from high school, get a full-ride scholarship somewhere and then graduate from college. And so, like, nothing else mattered to me in high school but those things. That's why, like, I didn't worry about, you know, having a girlfriend in high school. Granted, did I have crushes in high school? Absolutely. But I was so focused on just proving the world wrong." Anthony got accepted to and graduated from Michigan State University. He graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. Which is more than what his doctors said that he would achieve.

Basketball
At the end of his senior year, Anthony earned a scholarship to play Division II at Grand Valley State University. After two seasons in 2009, Anthony transferred to his hometown school and the team he would root for; Michigan State University. Anthony kept his autism a secret as well as he could. The coaches and one teammate knew, but the rest of the players did not. He worried on how they would treat him because in the past once people found out about his diagnosis, they started to treat him differently, like he was not a normal person or a little kid. It was not until the summer workout before the 2011-2012 season where his secret came out. He did not catch on to a joke that went on and he punched his teammate in the face. That is when Coach Vork set his teammate aside and told him that Anthony does not understand jokes, that he is autistic. The teammate apologized the next day and told Ianni how impressed he was with how far he had come. “That day changed our relationship,” said Ianni. “I earned his respect not just as a teammate, but more importantly, as a friend and vice versa.” At Grand Valley State, Anthony played in 27 games, averaging 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds. He scored a career best 11 points against Michigan Tech adding six rebounds. At Michigan State, Anthony appeared in 21 games in 2011-2012 season His position was Center. He scored two points in the Michigan vs. Nebraska Omaha and one against UMKC. He grabbed two rebounds against Texas Southern and at home vs. Nebraska. He won two Big Ten Championships, a Big Ten Tournament Title, was the recipient of the 2011 Tim Bograkos Walk on Award and the 2012 Unsung Player Award and was also a member of the 2010 Final Four team.

Entrepreneurship
Anthony pledged his life and career to help those who face similar challenges that he had went through. He is invited to tell his story and share his experiences to people across the country and inspires many people to “LVD” which means Live your Dreams. This has become his slogan. It was inspired by the part of his story where his doctors did not believe that he would not amount to much. “You can do extraordinary things,” he said. “Autism doesn’t define who you are. You define who you are.” His tour is to take part in stopping the bullying. Anthony story reaches people. He defied all the odds against him and created a new, successful path for himself. By telling his story, he helps others live their dreams.