THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO AUTISM

The author’s son, a white man with short curly dark brown hair, riding in a New York City ferry boat.

Medicaid Is Life for My Autistic Son

May 14, 2025 • By Carol Greenburg

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.

Selfie of three smiling glasses-wearing people: Carol Greenburg, a white woman with chin-length platinum hair; TC Waisman, a Black/South Asian/Pacific Islander person with a medium-length Afro; and Shannon Rosa, a white woman with chin-length red hair.

Talking With Autistic Autism Researcher TC Waisman About Being BIPOC and Multiply Disabled

May 10, 2025 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

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.”

Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai, a Taiwanese man with short black hair and glasses. He is smiling.

Talking with Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai About Autism and Mental Health

April 30, 2025 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

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.

$Book cover. The background is fractal and nebula-like, with a white-lavender center and blue outer area. Large outlined squared text in the center reads, "Luminous Mind" Small black italic text underneath reads, "lyric essays". White text at the bottom reads, "Elliot Gavin Keenan"$

Writing While Autistic and Bipolar: Luminous Mind Author Elliot Gavin Keenan

April 26, 2025 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

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.

Photo of a common blue butterfly on a pale green leaf.

The Troubled History of ABA Therapy: Talking With Author Anne Borden King

April 20, 2025 • By Anne Borden King

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.

White man wearing a baseball cap, seen from behind while hiking at California's jagged Vasquez Rocks.

All Autistic People Have Value, Something RFK Jr. and Profound Autism Parents Refuse to Understand

April 19, 2025 • By Shannon Des Roches Rosa

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.