For most people, saying no to possibilities seems to be an ingrained response. "No, that won't work. No, that's not realistic. No, I can't do something like that."  In the last 10+ years of helping people create careers that energize and inspire them, here's one thing I've learned about that initial…

“There’s this one thing a friend of the Dalai Lama said after being tortured and imprisoned: to solve his imprisonment, he had compassion for his torturers, not anger, but compassion. Replace anger with compassion and you get a happier person,” Ben By Nancy Lea Speer It is said that if a Great B…

Update 1/18/2016 I’m collecting favorite quotes about autism from some of my favorite people. Please share your own in the comments and if I like it, I’ll add it to the list. 1. “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” Dr. Stephen…

By Leanne Libas “If my child was autistic, I would say to them them: ‘Baby, it’s going to be okay. There’s nothing wrong with you,'”Leanne Libas As I look back at the blogs I’ve written for The Art of Autism, I started wondering what should I write for the last month of the year. Then, I…

By Debra Muzikar Yesterday I had the opportunity to ask Dr. Stephen Shore some questions about his recent appointment to the Board of Directors of Autism Speaks. I hope others will find his answers illuminating. With the appointment of two board members on the autism spectrum, will this change the d…

I look down at my hands and they look like fragile crepe paper. There are lines all around my eyes and silver streaks of hair on my head that contrast to the dark brown that once was dominant. I am tired much of the time. I am weaker than I was before. I feel my limited time for life and I am okay w…

To my 25-year old self on the day I receive my diagnosis, I know you have a lot emotions going through your head right now. 1) Relieved- because you finally find out why you struggled in clinical internship. 2) Depressed- because you realize you actually have a disability AND you have a strike aga…

The rescue mentality, the resistance to innovation, and the self-serving “we know what’s best” is ultimately preventing people with disabilities from more individualized supports that could lead to more inclusive lives in our communities. By Dale DiLeo If you are unfamiliar with the term “ableism”,…

By Debbie Denenburg Over the course of decades I have learned many coping strategies for all kinds of emotional situations which those of us on the spectrum experience. I was lucky enough to have my knowledge validated when eight of my articles got published in the book Been There. Done That. Try Th…