“I am a 10 year old boy trapped in a body that does not follow my instructions.  I am a boy with the same dreams and aspirations as any other boy.  I am not defective or flawed, I am ever evolving.  I am not an ordinary boy, I am autistic and apraxic and I am a fellow human…I am not a pr…

Dear Amy, I know you’re feeling pretty bad right now. The other kids make fun of you a lot, and you don’t know why. You’re trying really hard to be friends with them–doing all of the things you think they want you to do, and it’s just not working. But there is one thing…

I remember just standing there asking why it had to be me. Joanna was the only person outside of my home I had ever really been friends with, and now I would not be able to be in her class or see Jessica at recess. I can still see her face even now, with her blue eyes and dark hair in a ponytail, a…

I’m an adult with sensory sensitivities and diagnoses of both Aspergers and selective mutism. I remember what it was like to be a child with those challenges. Low-lifes took advantage of me. Adults who knew better laughed at me. Peers waved their hand in front of my face: “Yoo hoo! Is anybody …

A Letter to My Little Self By Keri Bowers Circa 1965… The yellow bus squealed to a halt. As the doors flung open, the angry man yelled “I’ve been searching for you; get on this bus right now, Keri!” I do not know why I chose to walk home from kindergarten to my house faraway on Franklin Avenue in Ho…

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…

Dear Younger Me, Are you lost and overwhelmed with all of the medical mumbo-jumbo, and exceptionally long diagnosis essentially saying, “Your child has autism.” I know that you are feeling numb—paralyzed with uncertainty, fear, and grief about the unknown. But I’m here to tell you that your life wou…