“We are truly blessed to be James’ parents as we learn more about Autism and focus on his needs every day,” Senator Michael Webber By Ron Sandison Michigan State Senator Michael Webber and I went to high school together at Rochester Adams. We both are advocates for the autism community. While runnin…

Header image: Adhyayan Trehan, Age 9 – Butterfly The Art of Autism is thrilled with all the children’s submissions in our 7th Annual Art & Poems for Peace initiative. We will be sharing poetry & art throughout the month of September. Last week we shared teen submissions. Thi…

By Essmaa Litim Happy Mother’s Day. To every mother out there who continues to fight for her babies. Who works endless hours to make sure they are fed. Who flies halfway across the world for opportunity. Who sacrifices it all so that those babies can live the life she couldn’t have. For her life is…

4th in the Happy Sawyer series By Nikki Mann  I suppose I don’t think of Sawyer as autistic any more frequently than I consciously acknowledge that he has blue eyes, or that his 3 year old sister whinges for most of the livelong day. So when I put his school bags on the same cushion of th…

Since autism has no physical manifestation it’s hard to know that this child in the middle of a meltdown is autistic. By Tulika Prasad A few days back while I was browsing the aisles of a store my nine-year-old son brushed against another customer. I was hoping it wouldn’t be a big deal but sh…

By Jasmine Dyoco Going back to school can be exciting and fun for some kids, but for others, it can cause anxiety and stress. It’s normal to be nervous about the unknown. New teachers, classmates, schedules, classrooms, and subjects can cause the jitters in just about anyone. But for children and te…

By Annabelle Short Music and the arts can be important avenues to help those on the autism spectrum. This article is going to focus on the use of music to help those on the autism spectrum. Why Music? What does research show about music and autism? One 2004 study looked at the effects that music ha…

An interview with Karla Akins, Author of A Pair of Miracles: A Story of Autism, Faith, and Determined Parenting By Ron Sandison 1. What were the first signs your twin boys had autism? The twins cried and screamed constantly. They bit one another mercilessly from the time they could crawl. They were…

By Chris Richardson It’s been proven that working with autistic students’ creativity and stimulating their imagination enhances the learning process, and helps them absorb information faster. Teaching your students how to create poems is a great way for them to start accumulating new information, an…

“Haider draws about a hundred drawings a day without pre-thought or plan,” Khalid Zalloum, Haider’s father By Khalid Zalloum from emails to Keri Bowers At age 3, I decided Haider must talk. I realized through observation that he would make full eye contact of a video of me talking…

By Rachel Summers Many people see teaching autistic children as an extra challenge, as many of them don’t learn in conventional ways. However, teaching an autistic child simply requires you to look at teaching in a different way. Below are some methods educators can use when teaching a child, …

Over 8,000 works of passenger art have been created on Delta flight attendant Jewely Van Valin’s flights By Debra Muzikar After 9/11 airline passengers were more irritable because of heightened security and a reduction in amenities. Delta Air Lines’ flight attendant Jewely Van Valin wanted to …

2nd in the new monthly series of ‘Happy Sawyer’ By Nikki Mann I don’t think I’d realised how much Sawyer’s first 2 or 3 years had affected me emotionally until I started writing it all down, and I don’t think I’d realised until now how much my life has been changed by them. I have so many stories to…

In the last five years, 8-year old Sofia has spent over 10,000 hours drawing. Sofia Drawing By Debra Muzikar A portrait submission was made to the Art of Autism this week which I found quite compelling. The portraits had animated expressions and jumped off the screen. Imagine my surprise when I disc…