New Jersey program serves autistic teens and adults by Colleen Hordichuk, Art Therapist Nine years ago, I joined the staff of my local high school as a paraprofessional in a brand new Autism program. I was chosen to be part of this new team because of my background in art therapy. It didn’t ta…

Update 8/4/2016 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 may add it to the list. 1. “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” Dr. Stephen Shore…

A Call for Constructive Conversations with Each Other and with Ourselves By Keri Bowers and Debra Muzikar, Co-founders, The Art of Autism A tipping point: “The moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.” Together, we have a combined 48 years’ experience in our roles as “a…

By Henny Kupferstein, M.A. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) for autistics is based on Pavlov’s operant conditioning for dogs. In this video, you can see the lone dog waiting for permission to have fun. Watching this clip, I can almost hear the ABA kid saying, “Miss Ashley–what am I working for? Aft…

Update 7/14/2016 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 may add it to the list. 1. “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” Dr. Stephen Shor…

Ian always planned on moving out when he was 20. To Sausalito. To a houseboat. Or maybe a mobile home. Ian is always thinking about plans for the next step. The summer of 2014, after Ian left high school he started reminding us it was time for him to move out. Janet and I were both “yeah, yeah, yeah…

Happy people are essential to my well being because life is greatly difficult when you dearly have a body like mine, that does not respond to your wishes. Belief in my ability to frankly realize my dreams is important. By Jeremy Sicile-Kira My need for support is the most important aspect of my life…

Tell me about the colors only you can see. Scarlett was diagnosed with autism today. They say a diagnosis of autism is given every 20 minutes… By Alyssa Adamson Sweet child, light of my life, I promise to never allow any fear to stop me from unlocking all of the universes that exist in your br…

By Rebecca Burgess, translated in Spanish by Jennifer Del Valle. English version here. Source: The Art of Autism

Earlier posts: Ian goes to college – The plan for his education (November 17, 2014) Ian goes to college part 2 – His first day (August 26, 2014) Ian goes to college part 3 – Drama Class Results (February 6, 2015) We went in to this whole “Ian will take classes at the local junior college” with no id…

“You cannot fix what is not broken. Autism is not a disease. We are not incomplete puzzles—we are whole human beings. We are not tragedies—we are products of neurodiversity. Eliminating autism means eliminating us,” Chelsea Dub The Art of Autism celebrates Autistic Pride Day today. Autism prid…

“Vibrant waves of sequenced patterns emerged in my head whenever I looked at musical notes and scores. Like pieces of a mysterious puzzle solved, it was natural for me to see music and its many facets as pictures in my head. It never occurred to me that others couldn’t see what I saw.” By Stephen S…

Update 6/16/2016 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 may add it to the list. 1. “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” Dr. Stephen Shor…

“There is this myth that children with autism don’t have empathy. I’ve found the exact opposite to be true: children with autism are instead the most highly sensitive individuals I have ever had the privilege to know,” Elaine Hall When traditional therapies didn’t help my son Neal, who …