By Aaron Bouma When people think of autism, sometimes they think of the television series The Good Doctor or the robotic talking Rain Man. What people don’t realize is these misconceptions harm autistic people and are stigmatizing and ablest. How do you cope with these misconceptions? How do …

By Nils Skudra This weekend I had the opportunity to finish watching the new Amazon Prime series As We See It, a compelling 8-episode portrayal of three young autistic adults dealing with the challenges of independent living. This series provides a highly insightful and sensitive look at the issues…

Spoilers ahead for the Netflix original film Don’t Look Up. by Allison Wall What’s that in the sky? Is it a bird? A plane? A planet-destroying comet? Oh. It’s ableism. One of Netflix’s original big movie hits over the 2021 winter holiday season was Don’t Look Up (directed and written by Adam McKay w…

By Ron Sandison When I was diagnosed with autism in 1982 only one in every 10,000 children in the United States had an autism diagnosis. As a teenager, I felt different, much like an endangered species. I was often excluded from social activities due to my outbursts and meltdowns. The neurodiversit…

Reflections on my experience with accessibility in an apprenticeship theatre program at Williamstown By Anton Spivack In 2009, one of my writing mentors suggested I apply for a scholarship through VSA, which every year allows two to four disabled actors to attend the Williamstown Theatre Festival Ap…

October is National Disability History Month and National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Richard Pimentel was one of the first disability activists to work with United States government agencies and Fortune 500 companies in diversity training and providing employment for people with disabili…

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The 2021 theme, “America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion,” reflects the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement during the national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. B…

By Jordan Wilson-Dalzell There are many ways you can show up and support autistic people. First, remember to listen to us. We are the experts on autism and our own lived experiences. Support autistic folks in your lives by listening to them first, and learn from autistic voices in general. A place…

The 2003 film Radio is based on the true story of T. L. Hanna High School football coach Harold Jones (played by Ed Harris) and an intellectually disabled young man, James Robert “Radio” Kennedy (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) By Nils Skudra Recently I had the opportunity to watch the film…

For us autistics, J.K. Rowling is promoting the ignorant belief that autistics are not able to figure things out about themselves on their own. She is using autism, our autism, as a weapon to defend her very transphobic beliefs. By Dana Trick For those who haven’t heard, recently J.K. Rowling, the a…

October is Disability History Month. Nicole talks about the 30th Anniversary of ADA and what she hopes for the next 30 years. By Nicole LeBlanc This year the Disability Community will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that was signed into law on July 1990 …

When you see an Autistic Artist trying to support themselves and their passion – as with any Artist, Autistic or Neurotypical, please, strike up a conversation, ask questions, consider all the reasons and information put forward to you. By Margaux WoskThe opportunities for artists seem to be…

“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…

A trigger warning is a statement at a beginning of a piece of writing that tells the reader there may be potentially distressing material within the article.  That material may be in the form of words, pictures or videos.  An intellectual safe space is designed to protect a person from material that…