'Never give up': 19-year-old Calgarian defies presumptions by earning Grade 12 diploma

Colleen Underwood · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 21, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Ishaan Holloway says he's ecstatic to bushed each presumptions astir him and radical similar him.

Holloway, 19, has terrible regressive autism and doesn't speak. The Calgarian is besides an award-winning writer and published author.

He talks astir his latest accomplishment, a Grade 12 diploma, by typing his answers connected a keyboard 1 missive astatine a time.

"It was sometimes hard to support going, and giving up decidedly crossed my mind, [but] I wanted to combat for the rights of radical with terrible disabilities, and the lone mode to bash that was by mounting a worthwhile example," writes Holloway.

That information is down a batch of Ishaan's milestones. As is his family.

"We are truthful arrogant of him because, to beryllium honorable with you, we were made to consciousness that helium won't beryllium capable to ever execute what helium has, and that was a existent downer for america for many, galore years," said Mousumee Dutta, Ishaan's mom.

A strategy that is 'unintentionally cruel' 

Dutta recalls Ishaan processing arsenic a emblematic kid up until the property of 18 months.

At that time, she says, helium started regressing, losing his quality to walk, speak, show societal skills. He was diagnosed with autism astatine property two.

The mates yet enrolled Ishaan successful a backstage schoolhouse specialized for autistic children. However, they recovered teachers kept focusing connected learning the basics, specified arsenic the alphabet, and weren't unfastened to investing much clip and vigor into going beyond that adjacent arsenic Ishaan began to usage a letterboard to communicate.

"It's truly required a batch of perseverance made much challenging by the information that the strategy is truly designed — not intentionally cruelly, but unintentionally cruelly — to disregard your kids, to constitute them off," said Ian Holloway, Ishaan's dad.

Then, successful 2018, Dutta gave up her vocation to homeschool her son. They chose a Grade 3 program to commencement him with, which helium rapidly mastered. 

"These kids are conscionable truthful locked successful their bodies, and they're conscionable truthful smart, but they person nary means of showing however astute and intelligent they are," said Dutta.

Empowering, inspiring

The household says they recovered a batch of enactment from homeschooling agencies, the astir caller 1 being Summit West Independent School (SWIS), which assisted Ishaan during his precocious schoolhouse years.

The caput of the school's location acquisition section says she works with a batch of neurodiverse students and that it's uncommon for idiosyncratic specified arsenic Ishaan to postgraduate from precocious schoolhouse successful Alberta.

"[But] what isn't uncommon is our underestimation of neurodiverse kids, and we person to alteration that," said Grace-Anne Post, manager of the school's location acquisition program. 

Post attributes Ishaan's occurrence to a supportive household who were capable to entree resources, his tutors, and the spot and content that he's capable.

"That empowerment is immense and opening the doorway to knowing the possibilities — that's an unending communicative close there," said Post.

One of his tutors, a fourth-year neuroscience pupil astatine the University of Calgary, helped him successful math, physics and psychology. 

"He's very, precise talented and very, precise smart," said Daniel Pytyck. "I respect him a lot."

More dreams to fulfil

The lone downside connected this journey, Ishaan says, is not having classmates to collaborate with, oregon assistance motivate him erstwhile the going gets tough.

"So it has been benignant of lonely astatine times," helium writes.

Still, helium has nary plans to halt with a Grade 12 diploma. He says helium would similar to spell to university, acknowledging that would beryllium a large measurement forward.

"I would similar to survey psychology, and immoderate time assistance radical similar me," helium writes.

His parents accidental it would beryllium excessively hard for Ishaan to beryllium successful a people until helium builds up his societal skills. So for now, they person begun looking astatine online universities and program to commencement slowly, with 1 course.

"I'm beauteous assured it volition spell well, but I'm besides assured there'll beryllium accommodation involved," said Ian Holloway.

As for Ishaan, helium offers immoderate proposal to anyone who whitethorn beryllium struggling to scope their goals.

"Don't springiness up! You volition person atrocious days sometimes. I cognize I do. But ne'er springiness up. Always retrieve that you are not alone, and that determination are plentifulness of radical who privation you to succeed," helium writes.