By Debra Muzikar “The only thing that is constant is change,” a wise man once said. 2015 was a year of intense change. From the book Neurotribes, the Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, to the shake-up at Autism Speaks, 2015 has been a wild ride in the autism community. It…

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 …

Picking up a paint brush does not mean I’m super human. I’m not an alien hybrid nor am I a gift from God. I’m not special and I’m not a saint. I am a person. We are all people and no one can speak for everyone. By April Dawn Griffin There are 200 million Autistics alive today…

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…

So stop wondering what you did wrong and how you can fix him. He’s not broken. He’s a gift from God. You just don’t see it yet. Open your eyes and see the good that you have passed on to him and focus on passing on to him the other good things that you have learned in life.  By Jen Dubois Dear rattl…

Written on Kevin’s 21st birthday. By Debra Muzikar Dear Younger Me, It’s 1997. As you sit in the neurologist’s office watching 3-year old Kevin lining up toy trains, the doctor will inform you Kevin’s not interacting like “normal” children. You will hear the “A” word and you will feel sad. You wil…

By Debra Muzikar The holiday season can be stressful time. Routines are broken and expectations are high. While for some people, the homemade smell of a cooking Turkey and stuffing can be inviting, for others with sensitivities to smells the aroma can be nauseating! I don’t want to recreate th…

I was bullied by other kids, teachers and faculty, my own family at times and bosses and yet I couldn’t communicate what was happening until I was well out of my teens. By Christina MacNeal As someone who was an autistic teen and is now an autistic adult I want to share the problems of bullying that…

The rescue mentality, the resistance to innovation, and the self-serving “we know what’s best” is ultimately preventing people with disabilities from more individualized supports that could lead to more inclusive lives in our communities. By Dale DiLeo If you are unfamiliar with the term “ableism”,…

I would like to rephrase Dr. Stephen Shore’s statement “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” to become “if you’ve met one person with a label, you’ve simply seen the label and not the person.” By Kurt Muzikar The definition of  neologism is “a relativ…

By Debbie Denenburg Over the course of decades I have learned many coping strategies for all kinds of emotional situations which those of us on the spectrum experience. I was lucky enough to have my knowledge validated when eight of my articles got published in the book Been There. Done That. Try Th…