About Me

My name is Timothy Daniel Heard. Born on July 26, 1986, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at age 3. Asperger's Syndrome is a mild form of autism that makes normal communication and social interaction difficult for me. Since then, I was put through various intervention programs so that I would be able to integrate into society while controlling my behaviors that are characteristic to my autism such as flapping hands, talking to myself, and resisting changes to routines. It was a long road for me; the most memorable bumps of that road was breaking my leg as a result of a temper tantrum I exhibited as a toddler, a few violent fights in high school, a couple of suspensions, and a meltdown severe enough for an appointment with a psychiatrist. In spite of those bumps, I managed to pull through with the support of my family and various aides; they have helped me communicate better with people, do well in school, and learn various skills necessary for independent living. By the time I was 19, I graduated from high school with highest honors. With the life chapters of elementary school, junior high school, and high school behind me, the new chapters would consisted of college and finding a career path.

During my early college years at Quinsigamond Community College, I thought about becoming a filmmaker driven by the mediocrity of movies based on video games, my most favorite hobby. But as I was soon to transition from a two-year community college to a four-year private college, I realized my true calling in video game development. In two and a half years (largely due to the use of transfer credits I earned while attended the community college), I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Game Design. Since then, I've been honing the many skills required in the design, development, and production of video games including but not limited to 2D illustration, 3D modelling, level design, and programming by utilizing information from various online tutorials and books. By mastering various game development software like GameMaker: Studio, Clickteam Fusion 2.5, and Unity, I will be able to obtain a full-time career as a game designer and developer.

I am also skilled at writing. For around 8 years, I've mainly used it in blogging. It began with The Voice of Heard, a blog series I created during a two-week internship at WCCA TV13, a local TV station located in Worcester, MA. After my internship ended, I was allowed to maintain The Voice of Heard at my own pace with various topics of my choosing (as long as I published posts on a daily basis). A few years later, I would create two new blogs dedicated to two of my most frequent topics. One is called Cyberjack, a blog dedicated to video games. The other is called Loud and Strong, a blog covering various issues surrounding autism. In addition to blogging, I plan on writing various forms of fiction someday. I also intend to use my writing skills in my game development process when I write stories for my games.

I also enjoy high quality comic books, movies, novels, and Japanese manga and anime.