According to a new study, nearly half of all U.S. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are victims of bullying or will become victims of bullying by the time they enter school. Most bullying stems from being misunderstood or from assumptions being made about a person according to Frankie Mendez's mother, Anna Madrid. When you meet Frankie Mendez, you are immediately drawn to how incredibly intelligent this young man is. That, and how soft-spoken he is. Frankie is a 14 year old young man who is a freshman in high school and is excited to talk about what he loves most: prehistoric animals such as Saber Tooth Tigers, lions, bears, ligers (which is a cross between a tiger and a lion) and any other exotic animal. Those are his true passions.

Although it takes him a while to really open up to a stranger about his experiences with bullying, he was not shy about talking about it because he wants other kids to know what he's been through and to send a message that there is hope and suicide is never the answer. Frankie wants other kids to know that they can always talk to their parents or school officials and let them intervene. Frankie said this is the most important lesson he has taken away from all his experiences.

People may label Frankie as “different” because he has Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Syndrome is a closely known associate to Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although there is no known causal link between the two, the main differences are fairly small. According to medical experts, Asperger's Syndrome is not necessarily a “disorder” but more of a medical mystery classified by certain unexplained characteristics a child or young adult does such as concentrating on one thing more than something else. Also, not making eye contact with others or having a lack of focus and attention.

With Frankie, the Asperger's is expressed quite minutely and one would almost never see them except upon very careful observation. Regarding Frankie's failing to make eye contact, his mom said, “I had to get used to it too. It was hard at first. I always thought he wasn't listening to me until I learned he has Asperger's Syndrome and now I understand it more. So, it makes me more aware.”

Frankie said he started being “picked on” at the very tender age of about seven years old when he started first grade. Yet, Frankie has not let this stop him. He is open and honest when he talks about his experiences with bullying when most kids his age would rather not talk about it at all. What makes Frankie speaking out even more amazing is even through all these various events in Frankie's life; one would think he might have given up. There were many times he thought about it. Frankie explains he attempted suicide after feeling at his lowest possible point and figuring, “I just thought no one wanted me around anymore and I couldn't seem to get anyone to listen to me. So I just went into my room, into my closet and put the rope around my neck and tried to hang myself.” However, according to his mom, after receiving a frantic call from his uncle, she raced over to Frankie's side and found the uncle had pulled him down before he could really hurt himself. According to Anna, “I was so thankful to God he did not succeed. You know my heart was just so broken and shattered in that moment. When Frankie told me why he didn't want to be here anymore, all I could think was I've got to do something to help him and get him to understand this is never the answer.” Anna also enrolled Frankie in some counseling and that has helped with his social skills also, karate classes helped with coordination skills.

Frankie told his mom about a couple here in Pahrump who rescue and raise tigers after he watched a documentary on Nat Geo Wild that showcased the tigers. Anna decided to send an email to Kayla and Karl Mitchell explaining what Frankie had been dealing with at school and how much he loved wild animals. The Mitchell's invited them to their ranch to visit with and touch a tiger.

In October 2011, Frankie visited the Mitchells' ranch and met their tigers for the first time. The timing, according to his mom, couldn't have been more perfect because Frankie had a school paper that was also due soon. Frankie had to write his paper on someone you've admired. Frankie chose to write about Karl Mitchell because he found out Karl was involved with training and working with tigers. He carefully wrote out the questions he wanted to ask and had his mom type them up so that he could readily remember them. Anna explained, “When we got there, Frankie's eyes just lit up. His whole entire face just lit up like a Christmas tree. He was in awe of this place. All I kept thinking was, 'What am I doing with my kids letting him get around tiger?' But he loved every moment of it. He couldn't stop talking about it for a month after that. That was the happiest I had seen him in a very long time. I wasn't going to take that away from him.”

Kayla and Karl walked us all around the ranch and introduced us to the tigers and especially to Annastazia, who was only five months old at the time. Karl sat down with Frankie and went over the questions with him.

Anna believes the biggest impact came from Karl telling Frankie that it doesn't matter what other people say or think of you because in eight or ten years, what they said to you yesterday or all those years ago, won't matter to hill of beans anyway. “The best thing I saw in Frankie was when Karl let him touch Annastazia's head and then feed her. I knew he was going to be okay after that,” Anna explained. For Frankie, that was a turning point Anna believes.

Shortly after their visit to the ranch, Frankie's personality started to change, although slowly at first, but for the better. His grades began to improve because he seemed to start showing a more concentrated effort on learning than he had before. He even began to show signs, although subtle at first, of starting to be a bit more social and somewhat more talkative.

With the visit to the ranch and the interview with the Mitchell's, Frankie has a renewed passion for learning even more about the big cats. When asked what he wants to study when he gets older, he advised he would like to study Saber Tooth Tigers, the American lion, The Dinosaur, and the Short-Faced bear, among others. Frankie would love to study cryptozoology and zoology as well as any other ancient animals and their bones. Frankie said he wants to know how the animals that once roamed the the earth became extinct.

One comes away deeply humbled from meeting Frankie. He is one amazing young man with plenty to offer this world. The most important message Frankie would like people to know is to never judge anyone you see. Frankie said, “Don't judge me just because you don't know me or may not understand me. I know what you're saying about me just doesn't really matter anyway. I know and I'm learning I'm better than those hurtful words.” That says quite a lot about his young man, who has overcome so much in his short life. It's a great message to send for the start of a brand new year.