On January 9, 2016 at Autistry Studios, we met Michael, a friendly young man, who was working on a project, building a Lego MindStorm R3ptor, with an Autistry mentor. Michael’s hands were shaky and he was easily frustrated when pieces did not immediately fit together. “I can’t do this. Help me…

Ian always planned on moving out when he was 20. To Sausalito. To a houseboat. Or maybe a mobile home. Ian is always thinking about plans for the next step. The summer of 2014, after Ian left high school he started reminding us it was time for him to move out. Janet and I were both “yeah, yeah, yeah…

By Rebecca Burgess, translated in Spanish by Jennifer Del Valle. English version here. Source: The Art of Autism

Earlier posts: Ian goes to college – The plan for his education (November 17, 2014) Ian goes to college part 2 – His first day (August 26, 2014) Ian goes to college part 3 – Drama Class Results (February 6, 2015) We went in to this whole “Ian will take classes at the local junior college” with no id…

By Katherine Lockhead That day was overwhelming for me. I woke up that morning, feeling excited and ready for the event that every student looks forward to from Grade 1. I called salons to get my hair and makeup done. It came as a shock to me that most of these places did not have any slots availabl…

By Tom Iland When you have autism, social interactions can be one of the most difficult aspects of life. Uncertainty and an underlying fear of rejection may cause people with autism to avoid interacting with others rather than seizing the opportunity to get to know people. People like me on the au…

By Rebecca Burgess *** Rebecca Burgess is a freelance comic artist and illustrator living in the UK. She has an interest in history and folk songs that runs through alot of her work. Her obsession with comics runs into her spare time, where she draws two webcomics! Rebecca also likes to pla…

Spring is rushing into summer, schools are letting out, and vacations are being planned. But before we hit the beaches let’s celebrate some awesome achievements. Academic Milestones: Ross J. and Steven W. will graduate from Sonoma State University this month – both with degrees in Applied Math…

Bryant and Michael So many new things happening at Autistry. We welcome two new mentors to our Autistry staff, Bryant Luong and Matt Glenwright. Bryant has a degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in occupational therapy at Domini…

Autistic people, diagnosed or not, are not here to prove themselves to you, me or anyone else by virtue of “how autistic they are.” By Jocelyn Eastman CN: A Teensy Bit of Vulgarity and Bad Language for effect I’m truly a lucky woman. I don’t have any diagnosed children who would have compelled…

Acknowledging Mastery at Autistry: Certification. We teach skills as an integral part of working with students at Autistry. If a student wants to make a pillow, they learn to sew. If a student wants a bookshelf, they learn woodworking. A model tank, they learn model building, painting, decaling, wea…

You rock. Really. We met the $5000 Gear Wall Challenge! With your generous donations we met the Roberts Shoes Fund $5000 Matching Challenge! Our 2015 Autistry Gear Wall is growing and with that growth comes new opportunities for our students. New tools, new programs, and new scholarships. And we cou…

You like to categorize things into ‘it is’ or ‘it is not’. It helps you keep track of the world around you, but I have to tell you are going about it the wrong way. This is not a world of binaries. Certainly some binaries do exist, but this is largely a world of spectra- vibrant, living, breathing, …

This week I attended The Disney Effect: Communicating with Autistic Children through Animation, an event hosted by the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Expecting the usual “parent of an autistic” author talk and autism expert lecture, I was totally unprepared for the emotional impact of Ron S…