Autism news and resources: from autistic people, professionals, and parents
Autistic people are usually left to our own devices when it comes to navigating a social world defined by non-autistic rules. And when we make social errors, it’s very common to wish to retreat. Here are some (hopefully) comforting guidelines for such situations.
Joseph Krauter is an autistic writer and tech worker who was diagnosed as an adult, while serving time at San Quentin Prison in California. We talked with Joseph about how his life could have been different with earlier diagnosis and supports, the difficulty of receiving an autism diagnosis while incarcerated, and how his life has changed since both his autism diagnosis and his re-integration into society.
Autistic people tend to benefit from acceptance much more than from awareness, as awareness is passive whereas acceptance is a choice. Here are ten ways you can honor Autism Acceptance, and autistic people of all ages.
If your child is going through Autistic Burnout, they will need your support. They will need your understanding, flexibility, increased sensory regulation time and a decrease in demands both from family and school environments.
The new movie Ezra shows that when autistic people are creatively involved in telling autistic stories, it strengthens not only representation, but the very quality of a film itself.
Next time you are annoyed by an autistic person’s failure to comply or their different way of doing something or seeing the world, stop and consider the power of positive nonconformity and be grateful for those who dare to be different.
We spoke with autistic academics Richard Woods, Kathryn Williams, and C.A. Watts about their recently published letter explaining why “profound autism” bungles the support needs of autistic people with co-occurring conditions, and will endanger autistic lives.
Sarah Kurchak’s Work it Out is a neurodivergent accessible guide to starting regular physical exercise. This is a handbook on how to get started for those who have had difficult due to any number of reasons (like stigma, physical and mental health, being neurodivergent in a world where instructions are not designed for your neurotype).
Autistic brains can be in danger of overload while grocery shopping. When that happens autistics needs a quiet space—fast. But there are usually none in big stores.
I still see a lot of “gifted” labeling in the school system, along with a conversation that is frustratingly narrow, because gifted labels cause harm—both to the ability of “gifted” disabled children to get support, as well as to those without the gifted labels.