AutINSAR is a much-needed discussion between autistic people, autism researchers, family members, and professionals about priorities in autism research. AutINSAR 2025 took place at the annual meeting of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) in Seattle, Washington.
I think if you are someone who has deep expertise, particularly in a contested space, your voice can be really valuable. If there’s no counter-speech, no pushback against rumors or misleading claims, all the algorithms have available to surface is the nonsense.
Medicaid is life for my mostly non-speaking autistic adult son. Cutting it would remove the very services that make his beautiful, interdependent life possible.
TC Waisman says, “When I show up in a room, I’m Black first. That’s what people see. They don’t see the invisible disabilities right away. This informs not only my worldview, but the kinds of things that I want to work on, and the ways I want to challenge the barriers I’m experiencing.”
We talked with researcher Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai about the overlap of mental health and autism, the evidence-backed tendency of autistic people to be LGBT+, and much more.
With his book Luminous Mind, Elliot Gavin Keenan wants to uplift all people with neurodevelopmental disabilities—including autism, bipolar, schizophrenia, Tourette’s, OCD, and surely many others.
If you separate ABA therapy from reward and punishment and token economies, you don’t have any ABA left because the entire structure of ABA is based on that.
RFK Jr. has gone full “useless eaters” about autistic people. Seeing autistic people as burdens is straight up eugenics, and yet Profound Autism parents are delighted. Let’s discuss why “profound autism” harms rather than helps autistic people and their families.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced that he would find the cause of autism in five months and “eliminate those exposures.” This kind of deeply disturbing statement can lead to real harm.
Needing assistance with daily life is more tolerated in our society when that assistance is in aid of making money than it is when it’s required for being able to live safely with basic human dignity.
