Understanding Autism

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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.

Autism Interview #45: A.J. Mahari on the Stigma of Asperger’s Syndrome

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.

 

Self-Diagnosis: An Interview with The Greatest Adventure Blogger

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.

April is Autism Acceptance Month

This is a reposting originally published on this blog last year.

April is autism awareness month and autism acceptance month. There are a variety of different ways people can celebrate this designation. I’ve written an earlier post on autism acceptance, so I thought I would take some time here to aggregate information available from people on the spectrum regarding their views on autism awareness month.

Autism Interview #27-2: The Silent Wave on Positive Autistic Identity

The Silent Wave is a blogger and integrative medicine doctor. She blogs about life “through one female Asperger’s lens” and advocates for the acceptance of all people on the spectrum. Last week she shared some of her personal experiences growing up on the spectrum. This week “The Silent Wave” discusses ways parents can help their child grow to develop a positive autistic identity.

Autism Interview #25: Dinah Murray on Autism Research

Dinah Murray is a British researcher, speaker, and campaigner for people with varied learning disabilities, including autism. Her work has been published in the journals Autism, Good Autism Practice, as well as a number of books and online publications. She is an international public speaker on autism. Her research interests include medication and quality of life impact, IT for nonverbal individuals, and the ethics of autism research.

This week Dinah shared with us some of her most meaningful research findings as well as how to promote a positive autistic identity.