DEL VALLE, Texas — On appearances alone, 17-year-old Del Valle High School senior Aaron Allen seems to be a well-rounded student: He's a member of the National Honor Society, a trainer for the football team and he's ranked number 15 in his class.
He's also responsible for teaching a robot how to do tai chi. The 17-year-old came up with the coding that taught the robot named N.O.W. how to move its arms and legs using a computer language called Python. It's high-leveling programming that's used by tech giants like Google and Facebook -- companies Aaron dreams of working for one day.
But if you ask him, he will tell you his challenges include autism, severe anxiety and depression. That has led to his fear of speaking in front of people.
"I do have a lot of challenges. I have Asperger's, I am on the autism spectrum, I am diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression," Allen said.
This past summer though, Allen was selected for a highly competitive Bank of America Student Leadership Program. The week-long program taught the 17-year-old confidence to speak on stage in front of a large crowd.
"It was a lot of pressure because I'm not used to speaking in front of 300-plus people," said Allen.
And he continues to speak out against bullying, which nearly took his life in junior high school.
The experience made even more difficult because Aaron didn't have his service dog, Roxy. He got Roxy in junior high school during the darkest time in his young life, when he was bullied constantly just for being on the spectrum.
"I would talk about the things I would go through, being autistic, it was firepower for them and they would do things like throw things at me, take stuff out of my gym locker and call me a lot of names, and it just became where it just took its toll and I became suicidal," said Allen.
But Aaron said it was this fuzzy face that saved his life.
She is his constant companion, sensing when he is stressed and anxious. Roxy reminds him to remain in the present.
Aaron said he still keeps in touch with the friends he met during the week he spent in D.C. He's made a book of his adventures as well. He also hopes his story will give others strength to perhaps overcome their own fears.