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Neurodiverse-Friendly Workplaces in Your Community: A Symposium Report

Photo courtesy Max Sparrow [image: Symposium organizers and presenters stand in front of the Dirt Coffee Truck while the Dirt workers smile from the left window of the truck. From left to right, the people pictured are: Dr. Elaine Meyer, Bill Morris, Lauren Burgess, Kris Harrington, Drew Webster, Dr. Stephen Shore, Dr. Kristie Koenig, Thomas Koenig, David Finch, Becca Lory Hector, Philip Tedeschi, Antonio Hector, Erica Elvove.] Maxfield Sparrow UnstrangeMind.com I am sitting in Dirt Coffee in Littleton, Colorado. Ryan, an outgoing young woman with enormous blue eyes, has served me a massive Americano to which I’ve added tons of cream. “Do you know about our mission?” she asks me. I do know the mission of Dirt Coffee, but I let her tell me anyway because I want the joy of hearing the words again.  I discovered Dirt Coffee earlier today when I attended a symposium at the University of Denver’s…

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Whither Autism Research? Observations From IMFAR 2015

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com twitter.com/shannonrosa TPGA has made a point of attending IMFAR, the annual International Meeting for Autism Research, since 2011. We believe it is important to go beyond learning about the current state of autism research by talking with and listening to researchers directly — and not just about current research, but about how research can better benefit autistic people, in addition to those who love, live, and work with autistic people of all ages and abilities.  Here is what we learned and observed at IMFAR 2015, which took place last month in Salt Lake City, Utah. Note that the IMFAR conference itself — with scores of presentations and hundreds of posters — is overwhelming, and we only got to see part of what was actually presented and discussed in the full conference. We also live-tweeted several sessions from the conference, and compiled that coverage at Storify.…

Stephen Shore: The TPGA Interview

Stephen Shore is noted for his tireless, globetrotting autism advocacy and education work. He is also such a busy and accomplished individual that he doesn’t always mention roles like being a public member of the U.S. IACC (Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee). TPGA editor Shannon Rosa had the pleasure of talking with Stephen two weeks ago. You do so many different things that people aren’t always aware of everything you do. Can you tell us about yourself, in terms of your various pursuits? I do a lot of teaching and researching at Adelphi University on issues related to the autism spectrum; specifically teaching courses on autism: an intro course, and a more second-level course called “Diagnosis and Intervention in Autism,” in which we go deeper into different approaches and techniques. I also teach an intro to Special Education and a master’s course in which students are expected to piece together everything…

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Learning to Play a Musical Instrument is for People with Autism too!

Stephen M. Shore, Ed.D. www.autismasperger.net Preparation  “Can you help me draw a straight line down the middle of the page?” I ask my student upon our initial meeting. Done! “How about three more lines, going sideways?” Done! Soon we have eight empty squares on what was a blank notebook-sized piece of paper. “A!” responds my student when I ask for the first letter of the alphabet. I then ask him to write that letter in the first box before moving on to B through G. The 8th box is filled with the word “extra.” “Excellent!  Gee, could you finish writing out a line of ‘As’ on this specially prepared yellow stickie™?” Done! “Now let’s write up some ‘B’s…” And we continue until we reach the letter G. Now with a “bank” of letters I’ll have the child use a scissors to cut the bottom part of the stickie™ off before…