“I want to be there for other autistic people the way my mom was there for me, with the additional level of having actually experienced autism firsthand. It is so empowering to have someone genuinely care about you and understand you.” Brielle Williams By Ron Sandison I was excited to interview Brie…

By Ron Sandison In March, my family was interviewed by Netflix for a new reality show Travel on the Spectrum. The show will feature three families who have a family member with autism as they travel to Myrtle Beach for week vacation. Netflix decided to produce the show when they learned that 80% of …

Resilience is a key strength for autistic people. By Catherine Londero I was once told by a preschool assistant that “your son needs to work on his resilience.” I couldn’t disagree more. It struck me that so often autistic people, particularly children, are judged by their behaviour. A…

By Kaelynn Partlow I am 24 years old and I am diagnosed with “high-functioning autism.” There is a broad misconception in the autism community that so-called “high-functioning autism” means “easy autism.” And while it’s largely true that those of us labeled “high-functioning” tend to hav…

By Kris McElroy I wish I could say I go into Autism Awareness Month with joy and excitement. Instead when April 1 hits I see an intense ball of emotions behind my eyes swelling in my body as I look in the mirror and prepare to navigate the stereotypes, the stigma, the messages that have been used to…

By Nera Birch Knitting is one of my special interests. I learned to knit when I was in second grade, but due to abusive situations all of my life, I wasn’t allowed to pursue it the way I wanted, until now. I have very quickly become obsessed with it, as one tends to do with an autistic special inter…

I immediately felt a total sense of security as the muffs cupped my ears and hugged my head. By Angie Arcuri This morning after we had woken up and were having our coffee, my wife received a couple packages in the mail. We new it must have been some things that she had ordered for me for Christmas.…

By Ron Sandison The worst years of my life were attending middle school. I experienced severe bullying and had few friends due to my sensory issues. During my college years I was able to make friends and also excel academically. I will share eight tips that will help individuals with autism have a p…

By Amanda Ronan In my first years of teaching in the early 2000s, very few students had been identified as having Autism. Throughout my ten years of teaching, though, that number began to grow rapidly, as Autism diagnoses and awareness began to increase. I felt like I knew so little about how to hel…

By Tulika Prasad I’m not a supermom but I get that a lot. Having a child with Autism does not make me one. Please let me be weak and let me cry, let me make mistakes, let my guard down, and let me just be a mom, a wife, a woman, not a “super-someone.” The day Vedant was diagnosed with Autism, …

Visiting the dentist doesn’t have to be a traumatic experience for your autistic child. By Ron Sandison One of the worst sensory experiences for me as a child was the visit to the dentist. I couldn’t stand the sounds of the drills or the dental scaler pick scratching away plaque. These s…

By S. Scott Sanderson Everywhere I go there is noise. From my pocket I pull out earplugs. Alone I want to sit and read. But here I am in the midst of people working, moving and busy. Like the eye in the center of a storm, I want to be calm and still. To my right, up high and loud a television blares…

Downs Design® and NBZ Jeans® with  no buttons and zipperless jeans addresses dressing challenges for people with special needs. By Keri Bowers I recently ran across an amazingly altruistic clothing company and fell madly in love with both their clothing line and their central mission. As the mother …