“To be successful in the workplace individuals with autism need to find ways to create a demand for their skills and develop a portfolio that shows their talents.” Ron Sandison interviews Nathaniel Reed Geyer, Phd       1.  At what age were you diagnosed with autism? &…

why I’m no longer employed By an anonymous female on the autism spectrum Sorry, I had to title my first AOA blog with my favorite saying from the King’s Quest video game series. In game VII a very ugly (to some) troll asks the beautiful Princess Rosella for a kiss. Upon rejection his rep…

An interview with Karla Akins, Author of A Pair of Miracles: A Story of Autism, Faith, and Determined Parenting By Ron Sandison 1. What were the first signs your twin boys had autism? The twins cried and screamed constantly. They bit one another mercilessly from the time they could crawl. They were…

Into Your (Joe’s) World by Michael C. Kregler As a composer, I’ve always tried to follow this self-imposed advice: in order to create authentic and convincing music, be sure to a) study great composers, and b) write within your own experience. The latter would become especially significant when, in …

Dually diagnosed with autism and Down syndrome, Dana Anderson has found her voice through art. Dana Anderson is a 25-year-old emerging artist who paints with acrylics on canvas and boards. Instead of conspicuously or deliberately altering or representing a subject, Dana’s color, texture, line, and f…

Bryan Dunn interviews CEO and founder of uneepi, a dating service for autistics By Bryan Dunn with Keri Bowers I’m Bryan Dunn, a 38 year-old autistic with very little experience in the dating scene. In fact, I’ve had only one girlfriend. I would like to pursue a different kind of life w…

“Boundaries with love and relationship are key for teachers working with autistic and special needs children.” By Ron Sandison My sister-in-law, a two-time teacher of the year winner for her county, has sixteen years of experience. Her first teaching assignment lasted only two weeks. She was hired a…

Billy was my favorite Power Ranger and I love that they chose him to be on the autism spectrum in this movie. By Brent Anderson Go, Go, Power Rangers! I saw the Power Rangers movie last weekend and I loved it. I have been a Power Rangers fan since it came out in 1993. Growing up, I watched the show …

“Meeting a muppet like me was something I never imagined would happen…”, Brent Anderson Dear Sesame Street, I found myself watching your show again after a 20-year break. In fact, I programmed it into my DVR so I wouldn’t miss it. I was excited to meet Julia, the new muppet who mad…

We need to decide, are we going to continue to spend time debating semantics, or are we going to fight with a unified message? By Carly Fulgham My autism diagnosis didn’t enlighten my life until age 28, but of course the signs were always there when it came to the exchange of thoughts, feeling…

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind,” Virginia Woolf By Patrick Jasper Lee Autism and fiction aren’t commonly mentioned in the same sentence. It took me some time to realize that there seems these days to be f…

“There’s this one thing a friend of the Dalai Lama said after being tortured and imprisoned: to solve his imprisonment, he had compassion for his torturers, not anger, but compassion. Replace anger with compassion and you get a happier person,” Ben By Nancy Lea Speer It is said that if a Great B…