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World Autism Acceptance Day 2014 and a TPGA Book Sale

April 2, 2014January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

It’s World Autism Awareness Day. To many. But to the autistic people we love, work with, fight alongside, parent, and (some of us) are ourselves, it’s instead a day to bust myths, speak out, and try to change the world to be a more autistic-friendly place. It’s Autism Acceptance Day. One of the tools we use to further acceptance and understanding is our eponymous book, Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. We created our book to be the resource we wished had been there when autism first came into our lives. And because we want that resource in the hands of as many people as possible we’ve lowered the price on the Kindle version of the TPGA book to $2.99, for the entirety of April. Whether you’re a parent, an autistic advocate, or a professional — veteran, or just entering the arena — our book is full of helpful and frank…

Disability

Advocating for TPGA Principles at the UCSF Developmental Disabilities Conference

March 16, 2014January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

One week ago, TPGA editors Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Jennifer Byde Myers, Emily Willingham, and Carol Greenburg spoke as a group at the University of San Francisco’s Developmental Disabilities Conference. It was an honor and a privilege to talk with a group of (mostly) professionals about how we use the power of social media to support our principles and TPGA’s mission, including autism acceptance and civil rights for people with disabilities, evidence-based approaches to autism supports and research, and debunking autism myths and misinformation. TPGA editrixes, post-UCSF session Shannon, who opened the discussion, is TPGA’s senior editor, and the parent of an autistic child. Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (TPGA) is a book, a blog, and a community. We aim to support autistic people and their families, counter negative media messages and autism stigma, and provide positive autism attitude role models. We created TPGA in 2010 to be the resource…

Disability

TPGA’s Updated Comment Policy

January 4, 2014January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

We’ve updated our comment policy. Short version: Please keep comments on topic, and please do so without making conflicts of opinion personal. We want TPGA and TPGA Facebook to be forums in which people feel comfortable discussing and debating autism topics. We do our best to moderate threads and encourage respectful disagreement. However, as we are a tiny team of volunteers, we may not be able to moderate in real time. If you feel we have missed a moderation opportunity, please notify us at thinkingautism@gmail.com. The main part of our updated commenting policy is below. The full TPGA comment policy can be found at www.thinkingautismguide.com/p/community-guide.html, and is also linked in our website’s header as (wait for it) Comment Policy. —- The purpose of Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism is to share and discuss information from Autistics, professionals, and parents, as guided by our Mission Statement. We encourage an ongoing dialogue…

Disability

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism: The Book

June 7, 2013January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

We’re excited to let you know that Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism is coming to Kepler’s Bookstore in Menlo Park on Tuesday June 25th at 7:30 pm. Editors Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Jennifer Byde Myers, and Emily Willingham, along with contributors Laura Shumaker and Susan Walton will be on the panel. We’ll do a bit of reading, and have plenty of time for questions and answers. We’re hoping there will be other Bay Area contributors at the event as well. If there is anything you’d like us to share at the reading please leave a comment below and we will do our best to cover the subject. Thank you for your continued support of Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. -The Editors Share this event on Facebook If you are interested in having someone from Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism speak at your event or local bookstore please contact us at…

Disability

Autism: When the Right Message Goes Mainstream

April 23, 2013January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

Jennifer Byde Myers jennyalice.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 Autism Acceptance posts and pictures all month long. -TPGA Editors When we first started Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (TPGA), our goal was to put, all in one place, the best information from autistics, parents of autistic children, and the professionals who serve our communities. We always felt it was key to deliver this information with frankness and with honesty, especially regarding autistic struggles, and challenges with aspects of education and parenting. We did not want to seek pity, or place blame. Instead, we sought to highlight neurodiversity as part of the fabric of humanity, part of what it means to be human. We wanted to present a variety of perspectives about…

Disability

A Gift Guide from Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism

December 10, 2012January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

Over the years many of us have struggled trying to figure out the perfect gift for our autistic friends or family, and while the quest may still be difficult, we’re hoping that some of the suggestions we have below, and in our Amazon store will give you a quick way to shop, or open your eyes to a new way to think about gifts. No matter who you’re buying for, one thing we can all remember is to truly keep the recipient of the gift in mind. Gifts should be given because they work, not because they are “age appropriate” or “gender appropriate.” A “practical” gift that may seem unfestive to you, may bring lightness of heart for someone who struggles to make ends meet. And always, consider what that person enjoys doing, not what someone thinks they should like. Give a Gift of Independence Description: bus, metro, or…

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Disability

IMFAR 2012: Decompression Interlude

May 21, 2012January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

We’ll be posting about IMFAR 2012 over the next week or so, once we all catch our breath. In the mean time, see if you can identify the four people in this photo, which was taken when said folk peered over an iPad after nearly an hour of intense discussion. (Hint: All four have contributed original writing to this site.)

Professional photo of Carol Greenburg, a white Jewish woman with short platinum and silver hair.

Disability

Carol Greenburg and Autism Acceptance Month

April 24, 2012January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

We’re featuring “Slice of Life” conversations with Autistics of all ages — kids through adults — throughout April’s Autism Acceptance Month. Our goal is to help TPGA readers understand that autistic people are people who have interesting, complicated lives and who are as diverse and varied as any other population united by a label. We are the people in each other’s neighborhoods, and the more we know about each other — the more visible autistic people and children are — the more common autism acceptance will be. That is our hope. Today we’re talking with rapier-witted TPGA editor Carol Greenburg, who among her many talents gets every Star Trek references we lob at her. Do you have a website? My company’s website is www.nyspecialneedsconsulting.com What would you like a one-sentence description of yourself to say? Tiny, powerful and a trip and a half. (You can tell I’m autistic because I…

Disability

Emily Willingham and Autism Acceptance Month

April 21, 2012January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

We’re featuring “Slice of Life” conversations with Autistics of all ages — kids through adults — throughout April’s Autism Acceptance Month Our goal is to help TPGA readers understand that autistic people are people who have interesting, complicated lives and who are as diverse and varied as any other population united by a label. We are the people in each other’s neighborhoods, and the more we know about each other — the more visible autistic people and children are — the more common autism acceptance will be. That is our hope. Emily Willingham is our Science Editor, and also the parent of TPGA contributor TH. What is your name? Emily Willingham Do you have a website? Yes. Science editor at TPGA, managing editor at Double X Science. What would you like a one-sentence description of yourself to say? I am a compulsive writer and critical and lateral thinker always far…

Disability

Autistics’ Slice of Life: Autism Acceptance Month on TPGA

April 1, 2012January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Because we consider April Autism Acceptance Month, Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism will feature “Slice of Life” conversations with Autistics of all ages — kids through adults — for each of the month’s remaining 29 days. We will profile a different autistic person every day, answering the same set of questions — in a similar spirit to (although for copyright purposes otherwise unlike) the Proust questionnaire capping each issue of Vanity Fair magazine. Why? We’d like to help our non-autistic readers get to know autistics as people who have interesting, complicated lives, and who are as diverse and varied as any other random population united by a label. We are the people in each others’ neighborhoods, and the more we know about each other, the more visible we and our children are, the more common Autism Acceptance will be. That is our hope. We’d also like to encourage you to…