Steve Silberman ASAN Ally of the Year talks about the making of Neurotribes, now out in paperback, and the future of the autism community. He will be a Keynote Speaker at the Love and Autism Conference in San Diego. By Debra Muzikar  What was your impetus for writing NeuroTribes? Since I answer …

Part of loving yourself is letting go of those grudges you hold that ultimately hurt you more than the person you hate.  Forgiving others as well as yourself will begin the healing process and allow you to move forward with your life.  The Art of Becoming A Man By Tom Iland Current statistics tell u…

The Prolonged Developmental Phases of an Autistic Child *This is a paper I wrote in 2001 when my now adult son was nearing his seventh birthday. It was written for a graduate psychology class, Phases of Human Development. I found it in a box as I was going through old papers and realized that 15 yea…

Autism politics is like faculty politics on PCP. An Interview with John Pitney Jr., Professor of Politics, Claremont McKenna College, Author of The Politics of Autism: Navigating the Contested Spectrum By Debra Muzikar Why did you decide to write the book The Politics of Autism: Navigating the Con…

Our stories remind one another of our shared humanity. By Debra Muzikar As I was driving home last Saturday from dropping Kevin off to visit his Dad, the NPR radio station played an interview with David Isay, the founder of StoryCorps. StoryCorps is an organization that goes from city to city collec…

“The word ‘army’ feels so fitting because fighting for your child, no matter how small it looks from the outside, feels like you are mounting a siege against anything with a pulse and an opinion about your situation. Even if their opinion vibes with you, it doesn’t matter, you are …

“I am a 10 year old boy trapped in a body that does not follow my instructions.  I am a boy with the same dreams and aspirations as any other boy.  I am not defective or flawed, I am ever evolving.  I am not an ordinary boy, I am autistic and apraxic and I am a fellow human…I am not a pr…

“I was existing, floating, drifting in my own bubble and couldn’t get out. Sometimes it felt like everybody else was in a bubble and I couldn’t get in. Those moments I ‘knew’ everybody knew what was going on . . . and I didn’t.”  By Eva Angvert Harren Throughout my life I have not been a…

What a great summer! New faces, cool excursions, and lots of great news. But before we look back, let’s look forward to this coming weekend. Steve Gatlin of Special Affects Films has organized a film festival “dedicated to showcasing the finest films being produced for, by and about the …

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…

New Jersey program serves autistic teens and adults by Colleen Hordichuk, Art Therapist Nine years ago, I joined the staff of my local high school as a paraprofessional in a brand new Autism program. I was chosen to be part of this new team because of my background in art therapy. It didn’t ta…

During my years, I had been stuck in a cycle of isolation and of desire. I’d wanted things I couldn’t have. I was invariably failing to search for things I couldn’t attain. But now, I had a means to break free from this habit. The key to liberation was within me and the first step was to accept who …

A Call for Constructive Conversations with Each Other and with Ourselves By Keri Bowers and Debra Muzikar, Co-founders, The Art of Autism A tipping point: “The moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.” Together, we have a combined 48 years’ experience in our roles as “a…

By Henny Kupferstein, M.A. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) for autistics is based on Pavlov’s operant conditioning for dogs. In this video, you can see the lone dog waiting for permission to have fun. Watching this clip, I can almost hear the ABA kid saying, “Miss Ashley–what am I working for? Aft…