If all we do is try to shape the child’s behavior “from the outside”, utilizing techniques such as verbal commands, token reinforcements, intellectual validations and extinctions (“do you “understand me?”) and fail to “see” how and where in the psyche and physical body they experience stimuli and ex…

Leah has an incredible talent to remember faces and names. “Her teacher once told me that Leah could be walking by a classroom, glance inside for a moment, and tell her who was absent,” Lori says. By Debra Muzikar Many autistic children have trouble making friends. Leah DeMonia when she was in 3rd g…

by Debra Muzikar In the last decade the world has changed dramatically. Today’s teens unlike prior generations have grown up with iphones, ear buds, tablets, and apps. Although many teens may be digitally savvy they may lack the personal skills needed to make new friends or land a job. Smile &…

“What does it mean to be autistic?” Amy Goodman “It means you have special talents and skills inside you,” Owen Suskind “What are those talents?” Amy Goodman “Being a good artist, and a piano player, and a good writer, author, and a storyteller, and a possib…

by Debra Muzikar Editor’s Note: The official trailer for Normal People Scare Me Too was released yesterday. James Jagow’s created the musical score for the trailer. It’s 2002. Keri Bowers is raising her 14-year old autistic son, Taylor, in Thousand Oaks, a suburban community in …

Living Loud on Land and Sea By James Jagow I was born with high-functioning autism which impairs social functioning. Communication for me was a grueling effort, but it was through music that I eventually was able to be heard. I was finally coming through loud and clear! Public school was difficult h…

Acknowledging Mastery at Autistry: Certification. We teach skills as an integral part of working with students at Autistry. If a student wants to make a pillow, they learn to sew. If a student wants a bookshelf, they learn woodworking. A model tank, they learn model building, painting, decaling, wea…

“At the end of the day this film is not about autism; it’s about love. Being more caring to the person next to you; being compassionate. This is a movie about love through a different lens; through the eyes of autism.” Carolina Groppa By Debra Muzikar (This is an excerpt from an i…

Humor has developmental milestones. By Debra Muzikar Driving with Kevin we spot this sign. “Slow children at play,” I say. “Kevin how would you interpret that sign – does it mean the children are slow or are we to slow the car down?” I ask. Kevin laughs. He understands…

By Mabz Beet 2015 is considered by many to be the year transgender people and the issues they are faced with were brought to mainstream attention. Transparent, a show that has employed more transgender people than any show in the United States, returned for a second season. Laverne Cox continued to …

Do you want to change the world? Want to live an energizing life? Then you just might be a Ripple Revolutionary! Come join me at the Ripple Revolution blog. The Ripple RevolutionTM is a movement to change the way we think about making a difference. It is founded on two simple ideas: You have the ab…

Ask most anyone why they work, and their answer is most likely to be some variation of "for the paycheck."  Money is clearly a huge motivation for those of us who forgot to hit the independently wealthy button on the way out of the womb, but when we see it as the only thing we get from our work, it …

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…

As you embark on the new year, you might be tempted to use it as an occasion to make wholesale change in your life. My advice? Don't! Wholesale, grand scale change almost never works. You run at it fueled by an initial adrenaline rush, maybe feel that first blush of successful change, and then almos…