2nd in the new monthly series of ‘Happy Sawyer’ By Nikki Mann I don’t think I’d realised how much Sawyer’s first 2 or 3 years had affected me emotionally until I started writing it all down, and I don’t think I’d realised until now how much my life has been changed by them. I have so many stories to…

By Helen Wallace-Iles When you have a child, there’s something nobody tells you: suddenly your first priority becomes another person’s needs instead of your own, and this can take a lot of getting used to. Then comes the twist: as soon as you’ve adjusted to them being totally dependent on you, you h…

By Chris Richardson It’s been proven that working with autistic students’ creativity and stimulating their imagination enhances the learning process, and helps them absorb information faster. Teaching your students how to create poems is a great way for them to start accumulating new information, an…

Researchers are testing a new way of making science, especially chemistry, accessible for blind students. This method involves creating edible and non-edible gummy version of models of molecules that can be felt by students with their tongues. Many science books have detailed and stunning imagery…

This week I attended The Disney Effect: Communicating with Autistic Children through Animation, an event hosted by the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Expecting the usual “parent of an autistic” author talk and autism expert lecture, I was totally unprepared for the emotional impact of Ron S…

“It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a child with autism to raise the consciousness of the village,” Coach Elaine Hall By Debra Muzikar Today September 28 is Good Neighbor’s Day. This year in California we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Lanterman Act. The und…

“Low pitched notes really make me feel like love might be truly possible.  High pitched notes make me feel like I could go  crazy with pain and sadness. Great rhythms can make me feel like life is freedom.” By Jeremy Sicile-Kira Music makes my life feel normal sometimes because…

Do art for yourself not for other people. An interview with artist Joseph Green How old are you? 25 How long have you been painting? Since I was little. I joined the Creativity Explored studio in 2012. How do you come up with your ideas for painting? Sometimes I use something in my head or sometime…

“It is toxic to think that the worth of a person comes only from what they can provide. This is, in my opinion, a major source of ableism. “By Baylie NixonLast month was autism awareness month. Fortunately, April is slowly but surely becoming better known as “Autism Acceptance Month” in…

What if you knew someone who, every time you tried something new and wobbled a bit, or expressed your perspective less than gracefully, got in your face and started berating you, yelling like a drill sergeant, red-faced and spluttering with flecks of spit.  Would you tolerate that? Probably not. But…

Genes are bigger contributors to autism features than are environmental factors, according to a study of nearly 39,000 twins1. Autism traits such as repetitive behaviors or resistance to change are about 80 percent heritable, the study found. Previous twin studies estimated that genes account for up…

So many people outside the autism community underestimate autistic strength. Not Steve O’Connor! He is a singer/songwriter from Liverpool who wrote a song whose lyrics speak to the strengths of autism. ‘Just Me (Sam’s Song)’ was inspired by Samantha, or ‘Sam’ as she likes to be called, a young autis…

Dear Younger Me, Are you lost and overwhelmed with all of the medical mumbo-jumbo, and exceptionally long diagnosis essentially saying, “Your child has autism.” I know that you are feeling numb—paralyzed with uncertainty, fear, and grief about the unknown. But I’m here to tell you that your life wou…

By Katherine Lockhead That day was overwhelming for me. I woke up that morning, feeling excited and ready for the event that every student looks forward to from Grade 1. I called salons to get my hair and makeup done. It came as a shock to me that most of these places did not have any slots availabl…