A Christmas Tale about the gift of music by Lori Jagow From my small apartment, the tune of “Good King Wenceslas” blared from my son’s shiny brass trumpet. My eight year old son, Jimmy, practiced for his first Christmas concert in the school orchestra. Jimmy is autistic and his music teacher recomme…

It’s a myth people with autism don’t have a sense of humor. Matt Kaiser proves the stereotype wrong. By Matt Kaiser My name is Matt Kaiser. I am 42 years old and am on the autism spectrum. For the last 10 years, I’ve been a performing stand-up, improvisation, prop routines, clowning and …

Sundays are special at Autistry. The workshop combines older teenagers, generally juniors or seniors in high school, with some of our college age students (Friday guys). When not studying for their college classes, the older students help the others with their projects and often join in LARP (Live…

Update 11/21/2016 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 Sho…

By Debra Muzikar Last year The Art of Autism posted a blog on Person First Language (PFL) which proved to be educational for me and I hope for others. This year I’m tackling the word neurodiversity, which is much more complex. I didn’t know some people object to the word until I moderated a neurodiv…

As we move into the last months of 2016, I’d like to give you all an in-depth, inside look at the Autistry Core Workshops. In 2017, we will launch the Autistry Comprehensive Adult Program (ACAP) which will expand our services to include Education, Vocation, Life Skills, and Physical Fitness/Healthy…

I think we’ve developed a ‘patchwork’ sort of world in relation to Autism. By Jeanette Purkis I’ve been a diagnosed Autistic person for more than half my life. Here are some observations of where we were, where we are now and where we might be headed in terms of respect and Neurodiversity and other…

I am very much a lone-wolf and an intrepid one at that. I venture into hot pot restaurants most white people would consider too foreign or too edgy, I read the menus in their original Chinese and order my food in either Mandarin or Cantonese which I’ve taught myself. By Tom Clements Aspergians are n…

The Art of Autism joins art organizations across the United States in celebrating National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM). Thirty years ago, NAHM was launched by Americans for the Arts as National Arts Week in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Americans…

October 10 is World Mental Health Day. Although there may be a genetic or biological predisposition to acquire the “schizophrenic trait” of expanded experience, it is really only allowed full expression in the willingness to learn about the unconventional. This willingness alone might be enough to a…

Update 10/8/2016 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…

By Colin Eldred-Cohen I must say, I was really surprised at the reactions to my piece on Satoshi Tajiri, the autistic creator of Pokemon. I figured it would peek some interest, but the amount of of gratitude and love blew me away and really touched me. Clearly, the impact of representation in the …

Update 9/30/2016 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…

“It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a child with autism to raise the consciousness of the village,” Coach Elaine Hall By Debra Muzikar Today September 28 is Good Neighbor’s Day. This year in California we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Lanterman Act. The und…