Quincy Hansen is a high school student and Autistic advocate from Denver, Colorado. Quincy has been formally diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and General Anxiety Disorder, and also has some fine motor skill impairments resulting in Dysgraphia-like symptoms. Quincy has found that writing offers a good outlet for communicating ideas that do not easily come…
I recently saw a social media post supporting inclusion where an autistic woman commented with a warning about being “too inclusive.” What she was referring to was forceful inclusion, and gave the example of her mother removing her bedroom door at her therapist’s suggestion to improve socialization. This sounds like abuse, and the opposite of inclusion, but it’s worth mentioning because it raises the important questions of what is inclusion and who defines it?
…It’s World Autism Day and many #ActuallyAutistics are wearing red to celebrate. Others will wear blue to support the awareness campaign initiated by Autism Speaks. The Light It Up Red Instead (#WalkInRed) counter-campaign originated in 2015 to boycott Autism Speaks and recapture the narrative of autism awareness and acceptance. There are numerous articles detailing the…
Robbie Ierubino is an American artist with autism studying Graphic Design at Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent, England. He has developed his own style of art which he calls “shapism” and uses his art to communicate his unique world perspective and advocate for acceptance. This week he shared how autism influences his art and his passion for working to improve autism acceptance.
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The practice of making New Years resolutions offers a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our past behaviors and consider possibilities for self-improvement. I used to think this tradition was silly and pointless–who could keep up a resolution for a whole year, anyway? But I’ve discovered that the score card doesn’t matter. Progress matters.
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Kat Muir is a speech-language pathologist employed at Easterseals Crossroads. She has a B.S. in Speech & Hearing Science and an M.A. in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology. She speaks fluently in English, Spanish, German, French, Farsi, ASL and some Mandarin and is currently working on learning Vietnamese. She is also a member of Mensa and a public speaker. This week she shared how she has managed some of her personal struggles as well as how she works today to help others with disabilities.
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Ring in the New Year with a commitment to doing what you can to improve autism acceptance in your home and your community. But you’re busy. Everyone is. So I’ve compiled some simple, practical advocacy tips that are easy to implement, but yield positive results.
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Unicode
The following article was originally published on http://franklludwig.com/ by Frank L. Ludwig. It offers a careful analysis and explanation of a variety of autistic behaviors in an effort to help neurotypicals better understand, support, and accept people on the spectrum. It’s a great read for parents, families, and educators of autistic children and adults. It is reprinted here with the author’s permission.
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A.J. Mahari is a counselor, life coach, mental health and personal development coach, and author on the spectrum. A.J. was diagnosed with Asperger’s at age 40 and manages the website aspergeradults.ca, which seeks to talk about not only her own experience and insights as an adult with Asperger’s, but also call attention to the gender differences in females and males with AS. This week A.J. shared some of her experiences as a counselor to other individuals with Asperger’s, the stigma of autism, and how to advocate for people on the spectrum.
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Threedeemee is a UK blogger and mother of an autistic son. Sensory issues and other autistic traits led her to self-diagnose as an adult before a formal evaluation ruled out this diagnosis. Today she blogs at The Greatest Adventure, opening up about her experiences raising an autistic son where other parents can find encouragement, information and support through shared parenting experiences.
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