By Aaron Bouma For many years I’ve had this dream. To build a military museum. But it wasn’t until later in my younger years that it was realized it could be achievable. How do you focus on your dreams? Are you satisfied with how you are pushing toward achieving your goals? Autistic persons often ar…

By Nils Skudra Recently I had the opportunity to watch The Horse Boy, a deeply intriguing and thought-provoking documentary on a couple’s efforts to find an effective source of therapeutic treatment for their young son on the autism spectrum. This documentary, released in 2009, provides a highly com…

Yes, a spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down, but there is a fine line between medicine and a sugar pill. By Anton Spivack When I saw this video on Youtube about how to choose a high school musical, one commenter listed a set of guidelines. One of which rang particularly true: “it has t…

Academy-award nominated My Left Foot (1989) garnered a best actor Oscar for Daniel Day-Lewis who portrays author and artist Christy Brown and a best supporting actress Oscar for Brenda Fricker who plays Christy’s mother. By Nils Skudra This week I watched the 1989 film My Left Foot, starring D…

Recently I told Debra Muzikar (editor of the Art of Autism blog) about the book I wrote on Buddha Shakyamuni’s life entitled “Symphony for India Buddha and Freedom.” In this book, Siddhartha behaves like a person on the autism spectrum since early childhood. Debra asked me to write an article on wh…

By Nils Skudra This week I took the opportunity to watch The Theory of Everything, a 2014 biographical film about the renowned cosmologist and physicist Stephen Hawking who struggled with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) throughout his life but achieved remarkable success and internation…

By Matt Valente Orangutan means man of the forest, But man is busy destroying their forest. Oh the Irony! You ask why? Mainly in search of palm oil, We ruin the orangutan’s native soil. These noble beasts are left to die; It’s enough to make your blood boil. Save the orangutans; that’s what I say: …

Following rules and rituals I create unique compositions. By Roland Bühlmann My music follows certain, partly unconscious rules. Following rules and rituals is typical for autistic people. My music is linear, made up of individual voices, all are more or less melodic. A kind of polyphony without con…

By Martine Mussies A while ago, I received a postcard of a beautiful Japanese art print. On the backside, someone had written a joke about “fighting like a girl” and concluded with the words “Thank you for being a strong woman in our dojo.” I was happy and touched by this act of kindness. But…

By Kaelynn Partlow It’s estimated that 75% of people on the autism spectrum have a comorbid physical or psychiatric condition. These conditions can appear at any point in the individual’s lifetime. Sometimes comorbid conditions can affect how well certain autism-related treatments and therapies …

“Sibtain taught me to love my life. He has taught me to be thankful and to stop complaining because darkness leads to light… always!” By Bushra Junejo Sibtain is my little brother diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. That’s his basic description. The answer to the question ‘who is Sibta…

On #NationalSuperHeroDay we revisit Face Value Comics By Debra Muzikar “We want our comic books to stand on their own merit,” Dave Kot says of Face Value Comics which boasts an Autistic superhero. Copyright 2014 Face Value Comics “I was shocked that Diamond Comic Distributors pick…

By Angela Weddle To my 19 year old self after quitting college, I want you to know that you are not a failure. You don’t know it yet, and won’t until you’re 29, but you have Asperger’s Syndrome, Non-Verbal Learning Disability, Fibromyalgia, Congenital Brain Damage, and oh ye…