Journalist O’Neill (’23) tells autism story during national rally at Capitol

By Chuck Gordon

When Michael Wayne O'Neill '23 was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He hadn't spoken a word to that point, and wouldn't for another six years.

O'Neill's mother, Marla, was told at the time that the best thing she could do would be to save her money, in order to keep her son at home and out of an institution as he grew older.

"That really did fuel my fire," Marla O'Neill says. "I was just like, 'I will show you.'"

After putting her kids to bed, Marla would stay up late doing research into her son's condition, searching for ways for her son to have the best life possible. She took him to specialists around the country, determined for him to have as normal a life as possible.

"At that point, 20 years ago, everything was considered experimental in nature," she says. "We knew we were going to have to forge our own path and be pioneers. Fortunately, I think through the grace of God and a lot of discernment we got what we needed, because here he is today, and he's not in an institution, nor will he ever go into one."

O'Neill, 27, is a college graduate, full-time news reporter, budding podcaster and disability advocate. He is such a success story that last month he emceed a rally outside the U.S. Capitol during a two-day disability-advocacy seminar in Washington, D.C. With his deep, confident voice and passion for disability advocacy, O'Neill is becoming a popular speaker. In November, he addressed the Arc of the United States' national conference in Charlotte, and last weekend he made a presentation to middle- and high-schoolers at the North Carolina STEM Fair in Raleigh. He has a couple of other speaking engagements lined up for later this year, in Illinois and Georgia.

And this Wednesday O'Neill will speak in Raleigh at the opening ceremony of the IDD Caucus, organized by the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities.

During his speaking engagements, O'Neill tells his story of overcoming his developmental issues and family tragedy to become a journalist and speaker.

"I don't mind speaking in front of lawmakers, because it's important for me to share my story with them, not only to advocate for myself, but to advocate for my fellow special-needs constituents who are having a hard time going through this thing called life," he says. "I want to be able to help the next person with special needs to realize there is something there for them to enjoy, and there is something for them to learn about what they can do to make this world a better place."

Finding scoops

Public speaking is just a side gig. O'Neill has become a successful local journalist, working full time for the Enquirer-Journal newspaper in Monroe, where he has won a couple of awards for his reporting since joining as a full-time employee after graduation in December of 2023.

Last fall, he interviewed a 90-year-old Indian Trail woman whose property was damaged by a tornado. That story won him a breaking-news award from the North Carolina Press Association.

Melinda Plue has known O'Neill and his family for years and isn't surprised by his success. Plue is director of advocacy for the Arc of North Carolina, which has advocated on behalf of O'Neill and other people with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities) for decades. When the Arc of the United States was planning to hold its national conference in Charlotte last fall and at the last minute needed someone to introduce their keynote speaker, CBS News reporter Judy Woodruff, Plue knew just the person. O'Neill enthusiastically said yes and gave a five-minute speech in front of 1,000 people at Le Meridian hotel in Charlotte.

"When I tell you he was the star of the entire conference, I am not kidding you," Plue says.

It's no wonder: O'Neill has had plenty of experience speaking to large crowds. In April 2023 he was asked to speak at the Union County Transition Fair, and he followed that with appearances at the International Division of Career Development and Transition in Denver, Colo., and at the University of Scranton (Pa.).

O'Neill (right) and broadcaster Al Michaels at an NFL game in Atlanta.

In Washington, D.C., last month, the Arc led a two-day seminar - Disability Policy Seminar's Hill Day - to educate lawmakers about the need for disability funding, which has taken a hit with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Many people with IDD rely on the North Carolina Innovations Waiver through Medicaid, which faces significant funding cuts. The waiver enables them to access services that insurance doesn't cover: speech and occupational therapy, behavioral services, tutors.

Those services helped O'Neill remain on grade level after he started speaking at age 8.

According to Marla, O'Neill's big breakthrough came 19 years ago, when she and her son went to Georgia so he could have hyperbaric therapy - the latest stop, after Chicago and Baton Rouge, La., on their search for ways to improve O'Neill's condition.

"That's where he looked at me for the first time as a person," she says. "The story is pretty miraculous, because from there he started speaking and then he started reading, and the next thing you know he's pretty much on grade level and he's fully inclusive in his classrooms."

O'Neill got interested in sports in middle school and eventually served as the team manager of Porter Ridge High School's football, baseball and basketball teams. He would share updates on high-school sporting events from around the county via Instagram, and before long he was being asked to write articles for the Enquirer-Journal.

During his second year of college, O'Neill had what he calls "the very best weekend I've had in my entire life" when the nonprofit Dream on 3, which provides sports-related experiences to children with life-altering conditions, whisked him away to Atlanta for an NFL game between the Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.

There, he met his idol, legendary broadcaster Al Michaels, with whom he still shares the occasional text message. The trip served as inspiration for O'Neill, who continues to harbor dreams of calling the Super Bowl.

"He's got a way of motivating everyone around him, especially for a guy who's 81 years old and still commentating NFL games on Thursday nights," he says. "Man! That's the greatest present the Lord gave me."

Disability advocacy

O'Neill transferred to Wingate after two years at South Piedmont Community College. He remains deeply committed to Wingate, regularly showing his support by attending sporting events, participating in special campus gatherings, and staying connected to faculty members who helped shape his journey.

O'Neill has repaid the University's faith in him by becoming a productive member of society, but he still needs assistance behind the scenes with certain aspects of his life, such as managing his strict diet protocol, learning independent-living skills and managing his money. He lives with his mother but has aspirations to one day live independently. His mother serves as a paid caregiver, but she also works full time, and the funding for his services and those of many others are now in jeopardy.

Hence, O'Neill found himself on stage last month, enthusiastically hyping up the crowd at the rally in Washington.

It was his "Live Aid" moment.

O'Neill outside Sen. Thom Tillis' office on Capitol Hill.

"Whenever I was standing on the podium and facing my special-needs constituents and attendees from the disability-policy seminar for the rally," he says, "I felt like I was Freddie Mercury sitting there at the piano getting ready to play Bohemian Rhapsody."

O'Neill and Marla have formed an LLC, Inspiration Station of America, to "help transform perspectives - turning neurodiversity and different abilities into recognized strengths and moving people from awareness to meaningful change." Through the initiative, O'Neill's speaking engagements have been ramping up, and they are planning to launch a podcast, the MWO Show, later this year.

One goal of Inspiration Station of America is to help change the narrative around people with IDD. Plue believes that O'Neill's story helps in that regard.

"It is unusual, and more rare than I would like it to be, for a person with IDD to have a full-time career," she says. "It shouldn't be that way, but it is. And we are working toward a world where lots of people with IDD have careers in an area of passion like Michael does. He is definitely not the norm, but we would like the world to be more that way."

O'Neill's story is inspirational. Not only was he nonspeaking for the first eight years of his life, but he lost a brother while he was in high school. He hasn't let autism spectrum disorder or the trials of his life hold him back.

"There is no doubt that there's a magic about him when he speaks that people are drawn to whatever he has to say," Plue says. "He's got this great tone and inflection, and he's got a great voice that is meant for this. People are immediately drawn to him.

"When he talks about being a person who didn't speak at all until the age of 8 and how he only communicated through very aggressive behavior before that and how difficult it was to walk through that, and then live through the divorce of his parents and the death of his brother, and just some really difficult things, people think, If this young man can live through all these things and still be such a source of inspiration and positivity, then so can I."

April 28, 2026