By Ron Sandison I felt a sense of nostalgia watching the video of Joey Hicks, a thirty-year-old, nonspeaking adult with autism, soothing to the music of the Grateful Dead at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington. In the TikTok video that went viral, Joey is rocking-back-and-forth absorbed in the mus…

By S. Scott Sanderson I am Autistic, I have Asperger’s. Having Asperger’s allows me to look at the world uniquely. While I am very educated with two master’s degrees, I have had a difficult time with employment. I often have had to struggle with anxiety and communication. Recently I have begun…

The Prolonged Developmental Phases of an Autistic Child *This is a paper I wrote in 2001 when my now adult son was nearing his seventh birthday. It was written for a graduate psychology class, Phases of Human Development. I found it in a box as I was going through old papers and realized that 15 yea…

New versions of the DNA editor CRISPR enable scientists to turn off specific genes in rats, detect mutations in human tissue and delete segments of the genome. CRISPR rats: A new tool kit enables scientists to edit genes in specific types of rat neurons1. Rat models of autism are popular due to the …

The rate of autism among 4-year-olds is lower than that among 8-year-olds, suggesting that many children go undiagnosed until they start school. New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put the prevalence of autism among these younger children at 1 in 751. The findings…

This week’s art challenge is brought to you by Keri Bowers (learn more about Keri in her bio below!) Puppet Art Suggested materials: Glue, scissors, yarn, beads, paint – anything goes! 1. Gather recycled items from around your home 2. Create a puppet(s) using an old sock(s) 3. Take a picture or vi…

Reposted with permission from Action Behavior Centers What are the four functions of behavior?  In the Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) field, it is believed that there is always an underlying reason for all behavior. Our behavior serves a purpose, even though it may not always be clear.…

Like many parents of children with autism, Braulio De La Cruz sought an expensive therapy called applied behavioral analysis — or ABA — when his son Noah Leonardo was diagnosed last year. Noah, now 3 years old, qualifies for Medicaid coverage because he had been approved for Social Security’s Supple…

A tribute to Remo Belli who made the “heart drum.” By James Billington, Hidden Wings The drum is tuned to approximate the frequency of the heart. As you drum closer to the center of these wide circular table drums you come closer to the common frequency of the heartbeat. The note is c#. …

By Ron Sandison Many of my greatest memories are holiday related – the Christmas of 1982 when Santa placed under our tree a stuffed prairie dog — Prairie Pup. My new special interest quickly became prairie dogs for the next eight years. Prairie Pup and I were inseparable until I began middle s…

“I have always been fascinated by art and began creating my own a few years ago after visiting Barcelona and seeing the works of Antonio Gaudí. This love has led me to my current career path,” Robbie IeRubino An interview with artist Robbie IeRubino who shares some of his art. Q. How ol…

Male monkeys that avoid touching, grooming or playing with others have low brain levels of the hormone vasopressin, according to a new study. Low levels of vasopressin in the brain also characterize boys with autism, the study found1. Vasopressin and the related hormone oxytocin control a variety of…

by Pam Urfer (commentary by Kimberly Gerry-Tucker after) Not much was known about Autism in 1942, the year I was born. Nor in 1952, when I was 10. Nor in 1962, when I was 20. I’m not sure what symptoms I displayed as a child, whether or not I spoke late, or potty trained late, or disliked being touc…

Stephen has been married twice. Two wedding days. Two “I do”s. Yet Stephen has no happy memories from either — or, in fact, from the marriages or any of his relationships. He met his first wife on a pre-nursing course when he was just 16. Six years later, they were married. Three years after t…