Judy Heumann passed away on March 4, 2023, at the age of 75. Throughout the disability community, she has left an enduring legacy as a passionate advocate of disability rights who played an influential role in the development and passage of critical pieces of disability legislation. By Nils Skudra A…

Becoming a professional speaker takes hard work, confidence, and practice. By Ron Sandison In April for Autism Acceptance Month, I spoke to 3,500 students and staff. During the past 7 years, I have spoken to over 250,000 people and I have presented everywhere from Israel to Madagascar. I speak at ov…

By Dianne Loyet 3 poems about being autistic. 1. Please i keep the world’s chaos at bay by classifying and quantifying its minutia seven times i hear "cross street with caution vehicles may not stop" two steps i take across one square of sidewalk i am captain kirk keeping the sky in place …

by Daniel Antonsson In my teenage years, I was a cautious boy. Girls seemed like they came from another planet and I had no idea what to talk with them about whatsoever. I was interested in motorcycles and martial arts while girls liked stuff like fashion, horses and boys (at least as far as I knew)…

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 S. Scott Sanderson Sometimes I feel A bubbling coming up Inside me It cannot be contained When I was younger, I used to give in I would dance, a happy dance Limbs flailing wildly Dancing back and forth And in circles Sometimes, I’d clap Into the air No reason needed Just an unbridled enthusiasm O…

Art of Autism announcement: Autistic Pride Day is June 18 – send your art, poetry and blog submissions to info@artautism.com. By Ron Sandison The Honey Badger Award: a Fierce Advocate: A Force to Be Reckoned With is given each April by Spectrum Inclusion to celebrate an entrepreneur and advoca…

by Emily Steinbach The restaurant biz is never easy, especially when you’re a waitress with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The atmosphere is generally chaotic and plenty of harsh customers can make things feel much more difficult. For those who are on the Autism Spectrum, working in the food …

by Daniel Antonsson As a 43 year old Autistic male, I can honestly say that I have experienced both the highs and the lows of living with Autism. The super focus that I have for my special interests can move mountains and there is almost no limit to how much time I can invest. Thinking, talking, stu…

In 2010 HBO’s biopic Temple Grandin won five Emmys. Claire Danes won for Best Actress for her portrayal of Grandin. By Nils Skudra Among the autism-themed films that I have seen, one of the most outstanding biographical depictions is the 2010 HBO film Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes as t…

Even if the change seems small, it will still need to be processed and preferably before you go to bed! By Catherine Londero Consider anything that is unexpected I have always been aware that struggling with change is a trait of being autistic and I definitely identified with that with the bigger ch…

By Andrew Moodie Most people would say that I have a fairly good life, but behind the fact that I come from a loving family, get three meals a day and go to a warm bed every night, I’ve always felt like there is another side of the story that has never really been talked about that much. Now I’m twe…

By Amanda Porche For as long as I can recall I have always felt like and outsider. I believed that I was this deep, dark individual that nobody could possibly understand. Some of this comes from being an autistic child and starting school with significant verbal and developmental delays. I knew I wa…

The poem, “More Than One Way to Fly,” I wrote in honor of my son, who is on the autism spectrum. The poem, which illustrates the relationship between a social Chickadee and a solitary Brown Creeper, is an appeal for neurotypicals to reach out to the marginalized. By Tami Ullom More Than One Way to …