*Last year, Nicholas attained the highest GPA in Arkansas High School’s over-100-year history. (Photo by John Bunch)*

Harding freshman Nicholas Watson is not your average college kid. In 2021, he graduated from Arkansas High with the school’s highest-ever grade-point average (4.8), which he earned while playing four varsity sports and volunteering regularly. He received over $1.5 million in scholarship offers and was accepted into 45 universities. He has been interviewed on ESPN and other national and international media outlets. His story regularly goes viral.

What makes Nick interesting to outsiders is that, when he was 4, he was diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and auditory processing disorder. He was nonspeaking until he was 6. Doctors told his parents that he would likely never read with comprehension or be successful in any math class. With this in mind, many would say that Nick has accomplished so much already despite his disabilities. In some ways, this is true; Nick has to work harder and longer than his peers. In a larger sense, however, Nick does not succeed despite his disabilities but with them. His neurodivergence is an asset—one of many he possesses.

*Nine-month-old Nicholas wrapped up in his favorite blue blanket.*

As a child, Nick was all over the place, literally and figuratively. “Everyone said I was bouncing off the walls,” he said. “Plus, I had trouble transitioning to different [tasks], I avoided eye contact, and I was obsessed with sorting things. I only made noises and sounds my mom could make out. It’s crazy because I knew all my letters, numbers, shapes and colors by sight and could say ‘octagon’ when at a stop sign, [but] I couldn’t understand space, timeframes, or the emotions of others, and I couldn’t perform multiple-step tasks. Even when I was given one task, I struggled to understand what was being asked of me.”

*Nicholas now attends Harding University studying electrical engineering and playing basketball.*

Parents André and Marian Watson enrolled their eldest at St. James Day School. “I had such wonderful teachers who always made me feel really special,” he said. “And I know that being one of 8–10 students made the difference. I think because we all remained in the same class [over multiple years], we all got to really understand and know each other. I didn’t have to keep reintroducing myself to new kids, and the teachers didn’t have to figure out how I learned. Everyone knew me. I was accepted for who I was, and I felt loved and accepted.”

From an early age, Nick benefited from various therapies, both during the day and after school. He played sports as a way to channel his hyperactivity into something safe and healthy. Evenings were spent reinforcing the concepts being learned at school.

“My mom says she spent a lot of money at the bookstore, trying to figure out how to help me,” Nick said. “My dad missed a lot of sleep because he worked graveyard and would have to take me to therapists after school, which cut into the time he was supposed to be asleep. It was a lot, and of course I never knew what was really going on. I do now.

“I really had a great childhood because I never really knew anything was ‘wrong’ with me,” Nick continued. “My parents created a world for me that was very positive. All the people in it were trying to help me and made me feel good when they were around. The world that was created for me to thrive in gave me the confidence I have today.”

After sixth grade, Nick transitioned to the Texarkana Arkansas School District. Leaving the bubble was not easy. “I had a strong learning foundation, and I was still confident in who I was,” Nick said, “[but in junior high] I quickly realized and sometimes was reminded that I was different. That did not feel good. But I knew I could do the work, and I knew I was good at sports, so I focused on that. When I think back on some situations, I realize that my auditory processing delay, which at times I wished I didn’t have, is probably what protected me from a lot of things that could have really hurt and affected me.”

Nick’s so-called hyperactivity gave him the energy to play basketball and soccer, as well as to run track and cross-country. He thrived as an athlete from early on, and he garnered confidence from that. Plus, his parents realized that, as Nick learned to cope with the complexity and chaos of team sports, his executive functioning improved across the board.

While in the fourth grade at St. James Day School, Nicholas received the Spartan Award, the highest honor a student can receive at the school. Pictured with him are: grandmother, Valerie Watson; grandfather, David Watson; father, André Watson; mother, Marian Watson; and grandmother, Mary Williams.

Just as hyperactivity propelled him into athletics, it was Nick’s access needs—quieter spaces, fewer distractions, plenty of one-on-one time with his teachers—that drove him to sign up for AP classes throughout high school.

“When I entered public school, my mom realized that the classes were going to be bigger, which meant more distractions. That was the last thing I needed because it took everything just to take notes and listen to a lecture. I actually could not do it. I still can’t,” Nick explained. “When we realized the AP classes were smaller, and the student-to-teacher ratio was similar to the classes in private school, we set out to take as many AP classes as I could. Most kids avoid AP classes because they think they are hard. They may be, but in order to survive a classroom setting and connect with the teacher and concepts, I needed it quiet and distraction-free for the most part. AP classes gave me that.”

*While in the third grade at St. James, Nicholas dressed as a pirate for Character Day.*

They also gave him the opportunity to earn 64 college credits and the highest GPA in AHS’ over-100-year history. “I never set out to be valedictorian,” he continued. “I just did my work like any other student should. When we found a few years later that I was ranked at the top, we were like, ‘Hmmm, what if?’ I honestly never thought it was possible—and once I found out the valedictorian gave a speech at graduation, I was set on at least making a C or a D to get out of it. My mom didn’t care too much for that conversation and threatened to do horrible things to my limbs if I did that,” he laughed. “I just focused on doing the work. It wasn’t hard. It just took effort. No way do I think I’m the smartest kid in school. No way. But no one, and I do mean no one, ever outworked me.”

Nick is currently studying electrical engineering and playing basketball at Harding University, an experience which Nick describes as being “amazing, new, different, hard, and very stressful, all in one.” The self-advocacy skills, work ethic, and confidence he developed in Texarkana are serving him well in Searcy.

“I know my strengths and weaknesses at this point, and I’m my own advocate,” he said. “I still record my lectures and listen back to them when I get out of practice. I ask a lot of questions outside of class hours. So far, everyone has been so helpful. I still get nervous speaking because what I am thinking doesn’t always come out right when I speak. I still to this day have struggles with communication, but no one ever makes me feel bad about it. I’m just made different. Things that come really easy to my peers and teammates don’t come as easy to me. I try not to question how I am made anymore. I know that once I get something, I’ve got it. It just may take me some time, and that is okay.”

The subject of so much attention over the last year, Nick feels pressure to continue working hard and making the most of his life—and he’s okay with that. “I don’t have a problem with being responsible or accountable,” he said. He often receives messages online from other neurodivergent people, as well as the parents of neurodivergent children, and he feels proud to be accountable to this community.

Nick was recently invited by Joel Osteen to become an ambassador of Lakewood Church’s special-needs ministry, Champions Club. He is also preparing to launch a website that he hopes will connect him with other neurodivergent young people.

“I’m giving it my all because there is an entire world of kids who are special and ‘au-some,’ and they motivate me,” Nick explained. “They need to know that being different is okay, that they are ‘au-some,’ and that we are gonna change the world. Basketball and academics matter so much to me. What also matters is knowing that I’ve helped and inspired so many people by sharing parts of my life that I was not always proud of. Today I am very proud to be ‘au-some,’ and I want [others] to be, too.”

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I'm My Own Advocate