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For Colin, on His Viral Eleventh Birthday

February 14, 2014January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.squidalicious.com By now you’ve probably heard of the Happy Birthday Colin effort, in which a socially isolated (though not autistic) boy’s mom created a Facebook page to cheer him up for his eleventh birthday — and the page went viral, with nearly 2 million Likes as of this writing. Colin’s mom writes: “I am Colin’s mom, I created this page for my amazing, wonderful, challenging son who is about to turn 11 on March 9th. Because of Colin’s disabilities, social skills are not easy for him, and he often acts out in school, and the other kids don’t like him. So when I asked him if he wanted a party for his birthday, he said there wasn’t a point because he has no friends. He eats lunch alone in the office everyday because no one will let him sit with them, and rather than force someone…

Ghanaian staff and students seated around a table.

Africa

Educating Autistic Students in Ghana: AACT’s Success Story

February 7, 2014May 3, 2023 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

The Autism Awareness, Care, and Training (AACT) school in Accra, Ghana is a place of peace, calm, and competence—plus the occasional whoop, shout, or “eeeee”—while students and staff radiate not just positivity but confidence. This is because students are encouraged to learn to the best of their abilities, and are appreciated for exactly who they are. AACT is a remarkable place.

Backlit book lying open on a flat surface, with its central pages curved into a heart shape.

acceptance

Do Me a Favor

February 7, 2014March 18, 2023 by Christine Stephan

I regret that I didn’t give my non-speaking son the opportunities to display an interest in things that I assumed he wouldn’t understand. I regret that my assumptions limited him when they should have been expanding his world.

Disability

Autistic Adults: Late Diagnoses and Supported Transition: An Interview With Brent White

January 20, 2014January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

M. Kelter theinvisiblestrings.com Ala Costa Adult Transition Program (ACAT) is a non-profit organization serving students with developmental disabilities between the ages of 18 and 22. Its unique approach involves not only teaching vocational and living skills but neurodiversity and self-determination. Brent White, director of the program, was recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I spoke with him via e-mail about the diagnosis and his thoughts on ACAT, bad therapists and more. —- M Kelter: When did you first became of aware of the autism spectrum? Did you immediately feel any sense of recognition? Brent White: I’m not sure at what point exactly I became aware of autism. I think I might have watched a news program many years ago that did a story about autism that left me with the [mistaken] impression that autism was kind of a disease that created strange feral children who didn’t love their parents. I…

Disability

Autism Acceptance: Don’t Be on the Wrong Side of History

January 17, 2014January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.squidalicious.com [image: White boy with short brown hair, seen from behind, walking on a stone path in a Japanese rock garden.] You don’t want to be on the wrong side of history, do you? That’s a particularly important question to ask yourself regarding autism acceptance. It’s important for you to accept, and then help other people understand, that autistic people like my son are your fellow human beings, with your same inalienable rights to live happy and pity-free lives. That whatever their needs and abilities, autistic people are not “less” than other people. You can start small with Autism Acceptance if you need to, start on the personal scale — taking the time to understand, for example, that my autistic son Leo doesn’t like restrictive shoes, and prefers Crocs — it’s a sensory thing. Why would I put him through the trauma of wearing other shoes?…

Disability

TPGA’s Updated Comment Policy

January 4, 2014January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

We’ve updated our comment policy. Short version: Please keep comments on topic, and please do so without making conflicts of opinion personal. We want TPGA and TPGA Facebook to be forums in which people feel comfortable discussing and debating autism topics. We do our best to moderate threads and encourage respectful disagreement. However, as we are a tiny team of volunteers, we may not be able to moderate in real time. If you feel we have missed a moderation opportunity, please notify us at thinkingautism@gmail.com. The main part of our updated commenting policy is below. The full TPGA comment policy can be found at www.thinkingautismguide.com/p/community-guide.html, and is also linked in our website’s header as (wait for it) Comment Policy. —- The purpose of Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism is to share and discuss information from Autistics, professionals, and parents, as guided by our Mission Statement. We encourage an ongoing dialogue…