The Birth of an Ally

April 4, 2013January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

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 at gmail dot com. -TPGA Editors Each year there is a Disability Day of Mourning to honor and remember disabled people killed by their parents or caregivers. Vigils are held around the country for people to gather for this purpose. I had been to last year’s vigil and decided to go again this year, but this year I was going to bring my kids. At first, the idea of taking my kids, at least one of whom is autistic, to an event where people would be talking about parents killing their autistic children seemed wildly…

Selfie of Jean, a white woman with long medium-brown hair, smiling. Background: a body of water and a city skyline.

Autism

Jean’s Adult Diagnosis Story

June 27, 2012April 28, 2022 by Jean Winegardner

I am very grateful to have this new piece of information about myself. I don’t consider my diagnosis to be an answer to all my life’s problems, nor do I consider it to be a deficit. What I see it as is a new lens to see my behavior through.

Disability

Jean Winegardner’s Interview with Ryan Cartwright of Alphas

October 3, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Jean Winegardner www.stimeyland.com Ryan Cartwright as Gary Bell of “Alphas” I am always interested to see how television shows use autistic characters. Thanks to a column I wrote for Autism Unexpected, I was able to conduct an email interview with Ryan Cartwright, the actor who plays autistic character Gary Bell on Syfy’s show “Alphas.” Ryan had some great answers to the questions I had about creating an autistic character for television. He was interested in seeing his full answers published, and I agreed. (Don’t forget to read my full story about the show as well: “He’s not autistic, but he plays one on TV.”) Check out what Ryan had to say, and be sure to let me know if you’ve watched “Alphas” and, if you have, what you think of it and its portrayal of autism. Jean: How did you approach playing an autistic character differently than the other roles…