Makayla having me as her dad is in for a fun journey. By Ron Sandison On March 20, 2016 at 3:13 am my beautiful daughter Makayla Marie arrived. Eight days late and weighing 8.5 pounds. After performing the C section the surgeon asked me, “How does it feel to be a dad at 3:13 am?” I smiled and havin…

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. The Art of Autism is posting personal stories of how people on the autism spectrum overcame bullying or abusive situations. By Christian D. Espicha According to the a survey by the National Autistic Society in the U.K. , half of autistic adults are abus…

Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen the movie you may not want to read this review. By Tom Iland If you have not yet seen the Ben Affleck movie, The Accountant, I suggest you see it or research it in order to better understand the context and the lessons being conveyed in this blog. As a certif…

Some opportunities The Art of Autism has come across for autistic people and their families. The National Autism Association Give A Voice Program is giving away free IPADS to non-verbal autistic people. They have a limited amount of funding and each application will be reviewed for financial need. T…

By Morgan Giosa What do I think of when I think of the phrase “outside the box”? I think of a desire – be it intentionally or not – to go against the grain in a creative process which might deviate from conventionally acceptable norms. I think of the painting technique my art…

We often talk about supporting children with autism, sensory processing dysfunction, ADHD, and other diagnoses, but children grow up to be adults, and often continue to need ongoing therapeutic support. Weighted blankets can help support the needs of children and adults alike. The benefits of weight…

For those on the autism spectrum a 9 to 5 job doesn’t always work By Morgan Giosa One of my biggest struggles in life has been adhering to a structured work environment. In school, my teachers and I were always at odds. I was a bit of an eccentric troublemaker and experienced a lot of anger,…

Depictions of autism in popular culture often overemphasize certain traits, such as social awkwardness and restricted interests. Some characters have savant-like abilities — think Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man” — when in reality, savantism is rare among individuals on the spectrum. This tendency to ex…

This weekend I had the honor of being the convocation speaker at the opening of Clarkson University's 2015-16 academic year.  I drove there on Saturday.  If you plan a similar trip I advise bringing a powerful car, extra fuel, survival gear and defensive weaponry.The road to Potsdam runs t…

4th in the Happy Sawyer series By Nikki Mann  I suppose I don’t think of Sawyer as autistic any more frequently than I consciously acknowledge that he has blue eyes, or that his 3 year old sister whinges for most of the livelong day. So when I put his school bags on the same cushion of th…

by Heather Galloway As a “girl” with autism, the subject of girls and autism is dear to my heart. In spite of the questions I get about girls and autism, until now, I hadn’t prepared an adequate response. I simply told people what it was like for me and gave a really general answer. So, I decided to…

For Savannah Treviño-Casias, this week’s news about the U.S. college admissions cheating scandal was galling, considering how much red tape the Arizona State University senior went through to get disability accommodations when she took the SAT exam. “It felt like such a big slap in the face,” said T…

Inspiration may strike anywhere, at any time. Albert Einstein purportedly polished his theory of relativity using insights from his dreams. Nikola Tesla is said to have drummed up the concept of an alternating current while taking a walk. And plenty of lesser-known scientists have cried ‘Eureka!’ at…

Art of Autism artists recently participated in a project with the University of Exeter and the production company Calling the Shots as part of a larger research by University of Exeter Exploring Diagnosis. Participating artists were Angela Weddle from Texas, Eddie Callis from the U.K., J.A. Tan from…