James Reed shares his experiences attending different colleges in California. As a Freshman, I began attending college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I requested single room accommodations in the first week of classes and received them in the third week. During those initial weeks livi…

Autistry shot into 2020 as if from a child’s slingshot with the Heart of Marin Award quickly followed by the Jefferson Award and now here we all are grounded like naughty teenagers. The Autistry staff was not deterred. Within 2 days of the Shelter-in-Place (SIP) order they had all our clients …

Another year of rapid growth and development at Autistry! We have grown so quickly that I only just realized it has been a year since the last newsletter. The silence is not from lack of cool news to report – more like lack of time to report it! New students – Fall semester 2019 we supported 20 stud…

By Matteo Musso Hi, I am a 15 year old guy with autism. I have been silent most of my life, at least regarding using spoken language as a primary way of communicating. I was introduced to the letter board when I was 11½ years old. To live in this society without the use of spoken language is so cha…

By Austin John Jones For me, purpose is subjective; it’s based on how I feel. If I feel like I have a specific purpose in life, that motivates me. But sometimes I think purpose is a human idea someone made up to give me comfort. From what I can tell, people who feel like they have purpose get up eve…

5th in the ‘Happy Sawyer’ series By Nikki Mann In the 6-week break before Sawyer was due to start reception class, I was anxious about how he would cope and whether he would be able to fit in with his peers. Uniform and books started to arrive, along with the stark realisation that I was about to r…

As art and music is being excluded form more and more schools it pains me to know that others might not get the opportunity to express themselves through their artistic and musical abilities. By Nick Gustafson As long as I could remember words were always trapped inside my head. I was always the qu…

Brittany is currently ranked #1 for Special Olympic female tennis players in the world and is a professional tennis player. By Ron Sandison Twenty-eight year old Brittany Tagliareni (5′2″ & 103 pounds) is a little powerhouse on the tennis court. She has won over 100 medals and beat many of the t…

By Greg Burns My language is more than words and so is yours My language moves with the wind and turns with the earth It twinkles with the stars above and ripples with the waves My language is something you do not learn but I must learn your language I must force my mouth to form the words with teet…

Disability empowerment … can bend the moral arc of a neurotypical universe into one which supports the idea that initiative and hard work is valuable in and of itself, in whichever way it chooses to manifest. By Nils Skudra A little prefatory material is perhaps in order before I engage in a bit of …

As the Nike Motto says “Just Do It,” that is how I approach my aspirations in life. By Sarah Michelle I’m getting married, I live on my own with my fiancée, I can drive, I have a Bachelor’s degree and I’m employed full-time working with young children with and without special needs. Some…

We [artists} impart soul and well as DNA into every single heart/felt work. By Kimberly Gerry-Tucker I’m presently reading these two books concurrently and as is often the case, my blog writing is inspired by what I read: In Love With The World (A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dyin…

I will never stop listening. By Marisa Leon After 20 years of serving autistic children, teenagers, and adults, I know one thing for sure: Autism is a mystery that requires us to change. My journey into the world of autism began as a speech therapist. The expectations I had when I embarked on thi…

“…the notion of a “neurotypical savior” who brings a severely challenged and mistreated autistic individual out of their shell would be considered offensive by many viewers today due to recognition of the success in self-advocacy and professional achievement that so many individuals on t…