Where were you in ’78? I was 21 years old, trying to make a place for myself in a world of adults.  My clients were musicians, but the people who paid me were businessmen, and I had to make a good impression.That meant button up shirts, a nice pen in my pocket, and the ultimate professional acc…

He’s a young man with Autism and Intellectual Disability who has been incarcerated since August 2013 as a result of behavior that results from his disability.  He has been held in solitary confinement for most of that time and is presently at a Virginia state prison. You can learn more about th…

That is a very common and unfortunate objection to essays describing life on the autism spectrum.  I heard (or read) quite a bit of that in response to my recent column in the MIT Technology Review.  The words seemed to come most often from parents who felt their kids have more major chall…

Me, at age 2. Even then, I was #notmssng (c) John Elder RobisonYesterday a new hashtag campaign appeared in my Twitter feed – #MSSNG. It seemed to refer to autism, and a new research project. I had an immediate reaction, based on my interpretation of the letters in the context of the autism discussi…

TCS Auto Program in the Springfield Automotive Complex, Springfield, MA (c) J E RobisonWe are in our second year of the TCS Auto high school program and we’re starting to get questions about the program.  I’ve listed a few common questions and answers below.Who is behind the TCS Auto Progr…

While a fireplace or woodstove can be peaceful, an out of control fire in the home is one of the most frightening things anyone can imagine.  I had a candle set the wall screen on fire in my bedroom 35 years ago, and almost got burnt up. That left me with a lifelong concern and vigilance about …

The James River shoreline, near Williamsburg, VA (c) John Elder RobisonAutism is a neurological difference that’s associated with some gifts and a great many disabilities.  For a person to be diagnosed on the autism spectrum, they must have significant impairments as a result of autism.  W…

NEW JERSEY MAN KILLED IN QUEBEC MAPLE SUGAR EXPLOSION – that is a headline you will never see, but tragedies like that happen every year. Yet the news is suppressed because no one wants to kill the cash cow.  The result: one unsuspecting innocent after another gives their life for tourism, as d…

What’s the most interesting difference between Indian autism and American autism?  I think it’s the way parents and others perceive it.Indian and American scientists both lament the low level of scientific understanding in their respective countries.  What’s interesting is how that affects…

Demolition Derby.  It’s the closest you can get to blood sport in the politically correct northeast, and it’s it right here at home.  Kill-crazed drivers swarm the field in battered wrecks, bent on annihilation of their fellows. The last car rolling wins.  Local farmers and merchants …

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…

Steve Silberman’s book Neurotribes is a must-read that raises some interesting questions about the history of the autism diagnosis.  Part of what he writes will be familiar if you’ve read the original Asperger and Kanner papers, but even then he’s found some striking new twists that were b…

This later Jamestown church sits about 100 feet from the original wood pole structureWas one of the founders of the Church of England’s first permanent settlement in Virginia a secret Catholic?  Earlier today archaeologists from Jamestown and the Smithsonian announced the discovery of four grav…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the appointments of new and returning members to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), reauthorized under the Autism CARES Act. After an open call for nominations for members of the public to serve on the com…