By Gretchen McIntire Most of my life has been about saying “yes” to please everyone around me. A part of me just simply loves the idea of adding joy to others lives. Another part of me, as I have come to realize, was basing my self-worth on all of those “yes” answers. “In fact, I was terrified…

Interview by Jenny BristolIllustration by Rebecca Burgess Anthony Ryan Schmidt is a 12-year-old boy who is passionate about cars—especially model cars—and shares that passion with the world through his compelling photography. In many of his photos, due to forced perspective, the cars look life-si…

By Megan Amodeo Some people have given up on the whole idea, but I am still maintaining as much social distancing as possible. I do have several chronic health conditions that put me at a higher risk if I get COVID-19, but I worry more about my family becoming ill. There is always this anxiety lu…

Autistic Author Interview Samantha Grierson Samantha (Sam) Grierson’s later-in-life autism diagnosis in 2018 changed the course of her life forever. After an initial shock, the diagnosis became the driving force behind her creativity and allowed her to revive her love of writing. We caught up …

Understanding Love and Autism By Laurie Kennedy I’m sure a lot of people have heard of the prominent stereotype that people with autism struggle to feel emotions, empathise or understand emotions in general; I want to share my perceptions on this take and I’m going to be referencing my experie…

By Gretchen McIntirePhoto of Gretchen by GhoZt Studioz Photography I decided to try something bold this past month. I decided that for a couple of weeks I would delete my Instagram and Facebook (and messenger) and I would focus on a course that Yale offers (via Coursera) called “The Science of We…

Helen Eaton identifies as autistic and has three funny, enthusiastic, creative and neurodiverse children. She’s spent the last 15+ years delivering leadership and business skills training to some of the UK’s leading finance and technology companies. After one child was diagnosed as autistic, she beg…

By Megan Amodeo Have you ever been stuck in a never-ending line at the grocery store? Or maybe you were at the DMV waiting to renew your license and the wait far exceeded what most consider humane? We have all been somewhere longer than we want to be at one time or another. “I don’t know about…

Interview by Jenny BristolIllustration by Rebecca Burgess Anthony Harrison lives in the Washington, D.C., area and spends his days taking care of his cats, pursuing his varied interests, and, in his day job, progressing the field of human-robot interaction. Anthony works as a research psychologis…

The first week of college classes has begun. Yes, summer 2020 is truly over and what a strange, surreal experience this has been. In mid-March we converted all our services to working remote. We usually plan several outdoor adventures during the summer: whitewater rafting, kayaking, camping, and lon…