Hi, my name is Rowan, and I'm a 31 year old autistic transgender man born and raised in South Florida. Cooking has been my autistic special interest since I was a child, and I decided to pursue cooking as my career path by working in restaurants and going to culinary school. In six years in the culinary industry, I've worked with James Beard-nominated chefs, volunteered feeding the homeless, interned for an NFL dietitian, graduated with a bachelor's degree in Culinary Nutrition, and worked in Michelin star kitchens.

I was well on my way to success when laws started being passed against transgender people in my home state, so I decided to leave everything behind and move North where I'd feel safer. Unfortunately things didn't work out as planned because eight months into my move, I suffered a hemorrhagic stroke after being taken off my blood pressure medication and resuming my prescription ADHD medication, Vyvanse. The stroke was caused by a rare condition called Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstrictive Syndrome, which basically means that my brain has an abnormal, spasming reaction to certain types of medications.

My stroke was located in two areas of my brain, the area that processes vision, and the area that processes speech. My recovery has been one of spending months in Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, visiting Neurosurgeons and Neuroopthalmologists multiple times a week.

For the first year of my stroke recovery, I was completely unable to work. I went from working 13 hour shifts in kitchens to not being able to grocery shop by myself. I went from using tweezers to clean shrimp and other fine motor projects, to not being able to open a jar on my own. Fortunately when this all happened I had $18,000 in savings and was able to support myself the first 10 months, but then I had no choice but to get back to work.

At one point in my life, I was working in one of the top restaurants in the world. After having a stroke, I'm only able to work as a prep cook in a grocery store. I took a significant pay cut choosing a job that would be able to accommodate my needs, but given my new set of abilities I had to be realistic about what I can handle.

Now this story may sound grim, but I promise that I'm coping the best I can, and this is where I need your help.

Throughout my entire culinary journey, I've always known that food writing and recipe development was my calling. Now more than ever, I am ready to share my recipes with the world. Using my experience with Michelin-level training, a bachelor's degree specializing in dietary restrictions, and tons of personal experience cooking for loved ones, I am creating my own website with instructional videos. All of my recipes will be gluten free, meant to accommodate meat-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans alike. I will also be covering diets like Low FODMAP, an elimination diet for people with gastrointestinal issues, and DASH, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

My biggest inspiration for my recipes is cooking for the people I love. Regardless of any dietary restriction, I want my clientele to feel like my recipes are soul-satisfying and nourishing. I want someone who can't eat gluten to be reminded of their grandmother's mac and cheese. I want someone who doesn't eat meat to feel nostalgic and satiated when they taste my recipes.

In order to make my vision possible, I am raising money to cover some expenses related to making my home more accessible so that I can create and film my recipes here. I am also raising money to help cover costs related to starting a website, collaborating with a videographer, and most importantly, TESTING my recipes. Because all my recipes are meant for dietary restrictions, they need to be tested many times to ensure that my substitutions are bullet-proof. As a professional, I intend to produce the highest level content from my very first video.

I promise that if you donate to me, my recipes will make a difference in the lives of people with dietary restrictions. If you personally know me, you know that I'm always trying to do the next right thing, always trying to support my community. Please consider helping me doing it in the best way I know how: cooking.