By Aaron Bouma For my peoples with disabilities, stigma is something we continuously face. It is how we are perceived to be, to act, and what we are believed to be capable of as well as what expections people have when they become involved with us. Expectations can be like a scale. It can be good …

My name is Ari – I am reaching out from Nina Day Casting, we are a casting agency in New York currently working on a campaign for a new real-life video chat tool that is launching to improve communication for people across the ASD spectrum. We are looking for real people with ASD who may be f…

Since it is very difficult for people with disabilities to make successful inroads in the film industry, where disabled characters tend to be represented by non-disabled actors, Falk’s example can hopefully inspire members of the disability community today to pursue their aspirations of career succe…

By Steve Staniek I spent 40 years in Health Physics, protecting workers and the public against nuclear risks, and by the time I retired I was a stressed-out wreck. We moved to the country where I began to study shamanism as a path to healing. I took a couple of basic shamanic courses from FSS, and b…

Spoilers ahead for the Netflix original film Don’t Look Up. by Allison Wall What’s that in the sky? Is it a bird? A plane? A planet-destroying comet? Oh. It’s ableism. One of Netflix’s original big movie hits over the 2021 winter holiday season was Don’t Look Up (directed and written by Adam McKay w…

My name is Angel, and this is my autism confession. By Angel Nikki Mann I loved being quarantined. Now before you get upset, please understand that I’m not saying I like Covid. When I first started hearing about “coronavirus,” I, like many people, was alarmed. I had just started working at a child …

By Ron Sandison When I was diagnosed with autism in 1982 only one in every 10,000 children in the United States had an autism diagnosis. As a teenager, I felt different, much like an endangered species. I was often excluded from social activities due to my outbursts and meltdowns. The neurodiversit…

I feel tired, numb and tense. My head hurts and everything seems too much. By now I recognise these symptoms: I have stress! But what exactly is stress, how does it differ from healthy excitement and how can you make yourself resilient to stress? In this blog, I explain what I think stress is. I als…

As we close out 2021, The Art of Autism would like to acknowledge our 2021 top blog posts. All of them were older blog posts yet still get a lot of traction because of search engine ranking. We are grateful to the many people who submit to our website. #1 Samantha Crafts: Female and Autism / Asp…

What is your vision for the New Year? Email info@artautism.com and we may publish it! By Scott Lentine As I enter my next decade I aspire to achieve many new goals Seeking to develop fresh relationships along the way Before I am old and gray I hope to have many years of fulfilling work I would like…

Reflections on my experience with accessibility in an apprenticeship theatre program at Williamstown By Anton Spivack In 2009, one of my writing mentors suggested I apply for a scholarship through VSA, which every year allows two to four disabled actors to attend the Williamstown Theatre Festival Ap…

A movie review of the 1986 film Children of A Lesser God By Nils Skudra This weekend I had the opportunity to watch Children of a Lesser God, a beautiful 1986 film about a romance between a hearing teacher and a young deaf woman working at a school for the deaf and hearing-impaired. I felt that thi…

What I Felt After Being Diagnosed at 20 Potential Energy, Infinite And soft, Rolling Clear waves Of starry Blossoms. Steadily Growing Like iron On trees, Morphing Into Wavering gold By a few simple words. After My Diagnosis: A Journey My heart and my brain Now grow in unison, Thinking as one, and wo…

Art has been my friend, and given me a great sense of accomplishment in spite of the fact that I cannot keep a job and I can barely leave the house, due to the fact that I am Autistic, a diagnoses I just received a year and a half ago at the age of 41. by Penny Rae Tuffendsam I woke up this morning …