By Claudia Casser “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” is a stylish Korean drama on Netflix centered on a healing romance between a warped bitch fairy tale author and a self-sacrificing psychiatric nurse. This kind of extreme-opposites-attract is a staple of “K-Drama,” which I occasionally watch despite the a…

By Aaron Bouma For much of my life I have been mainly focused on military history and military affairs as my main special interest. Just as many autistics, I possess a strong interest in a specific topic which I fixate on. A year after high school in 2007 I attempted to join the Canadian Forces but…

By Martine Mussies A while ago, I received a postcard of a beautiful Japanese art print. On the backside, someone had written a joke about “fighting like a girl” and concluded with the words “Thank you for being a strong woman in our dojo.” I was happy and touched by this act of kindness. But…

Our own mothers were ashamed of us. Hid us our whole lives. Then you pull us out of the shadows… Maybe it was about making a buck. But you gave us a real family. By Nils Skudra One of the most upbeat films I’ve seen is The Greatest Showman, a 2017 musical biopic starring Hugh Jackman as Phineas Tayl…

When I finished seminary as a young minister with autism I often felt excluded due to my lack of social skills and sensory issues. Disability and the Church is the perfect fit to help churches understand neurodiversity and learn ways to equip individuals like me for ministry.” Ron Sandison Ron…

By Samantha Craft I am a neurodivergent individual. The modern-day term of what it means to be neurodivergent is extremely fluid in nature. Mood disorders, such as PTSD, are appearing under the neurodivergent umbrella, as are brain injuries that cause cognitive impairments or differences. Neurodiver…

“I’m often the first to hear alarms. I can differentiate sounds quickly and more easily. My sensitivity to touch helps with palpation during a nurse exam. I can feel if something is different or off.” An interview with Ron Sandison Like many women, Nurse Jackie Anne Blair was diagnosed w…

The first week of college classes has begun. Yes, summer 2020 is truly over and what a strange, surreal experience this has been. In mid-March we converted all our services to working remote. We usually plan several outdoor adventures during the summer: whitewater rafting, kayaking, camping, and lon…

“No diagnostic manual can truly explain the multi-faceted experience of autism,” Elisabeth Wiklander By Ron Sandison Elisabeth Wiklander was raised in a musically talented family. Her dad is a pianist, organist, and composer and mom a conductor, singer, and clarinetist. When Elisabeth w…

By Dana Trick Sinking like a stone— You’re human, Not a rock, And you have the limbs to Swim towards the surface. Curiosity killed the cat— There are trillions of things that could have Killed the cat as well as you. Why do you promote foolish ignorance When knowledge is essential? Blind as a bat—…

James Reed shares his experiences attending different colleges in California. As a Freshman, I began attending college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I requested single room accommodations in the first week of classes and received them in the third week. During those initial weeks livi…

Autistry shot into 2020 as if from a child’s slingshot with the Heart of Marin Award quickly followed by the Jefferson Award and now here we all are grounded like naughty teenagers. The Autistry staff was not deterred. Within 2 days of the Shelter-in-Place (SIP) order they had all our clients …

Another year of rapid growth and development at Autistry! We have grown so quickly that I only just realized it has been a year since the last newsletter. The silence is not from lack of cool news to report – more like lack of time to report it! New students – Fall semester 2019 we supported 20 stud…

By Matteo Musso Hi, I am a 15 year old guy with autism. I have been silent most of my life, at least regarding using spoken language as a primary way of communicating. I was introduced to the letter board when I was 11½ years old. To live in this society without the use of spoken language is so cha…