I’d like to share my story on what it’s like having a neurotypical sibling, and how difficult that was. Autism was never the problem, it was the lack of understanding that broke the relationship.
My brother died because of ableism. Because people—including very close family—were terrified to face his neurodivergence, and his disability.
Kate Ryan [image: Cover of the book “Things I Should Have Known” by Claire LaZebnik: A dark blue background with “Things I should Have Known and the author’s name in all-caps, handwritten text. Parts of the title are scribbled out in pink, so the title reads, “Things I Know.”] When I scanned the inside cover
Anonymous Photo © Carissa Rogers | Flickr/Creative Commons [image: Adult and two children, silhouetted against a lake and colorful pink sunset.] I started working with autistic children in the mid-nineties, as a volunteer in a magnet school. The experience was influential, and I went on to become a psychologist, getting a PhD focused on autism
Dr. Deb Karhson is a postdoc at Stanford University, where she researches biology-rooted therapeutic approaches to improving autistic quality of life. She is also the “baby sib” of an older autistic brother. We are looking forward to having Dr. Karhson as a featured researcher during this week’s #AutIMFAR chat at IMFAR, the International Meeting for
Shannon Des Roches Rosa Let me tell you something that may or may not surprise you: When it comes to public discussions about autism, parent and professional voices tend to dominate, and autistic voices tend to be excluded. While that dynamic is changing, primarily due to autistic advocates’ refusal to be sidelined in stories about
arbitrary I took both of my children to the park the other day. It shouldn’t be some sort of big announcement that a mom takes her kids to the park, but I was by myself with my two children, who have very different, needs, wants, and abilities, and I am a chicken. There. I said
Jean Winegardner www.stimeyland.com We want April — Autism Acceptance Month — to matter, to help further acceptance and understanding of autistic experiences, happiness, and rights for autistic people of all ages and abilities. We will be publishing your Autism Acceptance posts and pictures all month long. If you want to participate, contact us at thinkingautism
Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.squidalicious.com We don’t ever leave our youngest daughter Mali alone with her twelve-year-old brother. Leo’s autism may affect how he speaks and communicates, but he remembers very clearly that until he was four years old, there was no little sister and he was Mommy’s baby, and he has no problem expressing
Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.Squidalicious.com www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com Update: I now know there is such a thing as competing access needs, and that this article is not entirely fair to Leo’s siblings. Please see our 2018 article Understanding Competing Accessibility Needs for more context. -SR Photo © Shannon Des Roches Rosa [image: Young white teen girl whispering
