Two recent incidents at schools in Kentucky have highlighted the importance of educating teachers, administrators, and other school staff about autism spectrum disorder. An elementary school teacher in at Wurtland Elementary School in Greenup County is facing charges of assault after a school surveillance video showed her dragging a nine-year-old student on the autism spectrum…
OAR is currently accepting applications for the Graduate Research Grant Program and Applied Research Competition. Since 2002, OAR has funded over 250 research studies, bringing its funding total to more than $3.7 million. OAR hopes to build on this success in 2019, continuing its support of research studies that offer meaningful outcomes to individuals with…
OAR is developing a new resource to help people with autism better understand sexuality and personal relationships. This is an important subject in terms of personal growth, development, and safety, but it can also be a daunting one. We are excited to create a resource on this topic that is specific to the needs of…
In October, OAR’s Board of Directors authorized funding for eight new applied autism research studies in 2019. These new grants, totaling $228,036, bring OAR’s total research funding to over $3.7 million since 2002. This is the second of eight previews to be featured in The OARacle this year. Approximately 10 percent of all U.S. high…
“It feels like whenever my family and I are out in public, my autistic brother will have a full-blown meltdown. People always stare so I get really embarrassed, but I also worry about how angry he gets. What can I do about this?” This is one of the many challenges siblings grapple with when they…
We all want our children to have full lives. One important component of a full life is having a healthy romantic/sexual relationship with a partner. If you are a parent, this can be a scary thought because we worry about how our kids will navigate these relationships and if they will be safe from harm…
Watching teenagers flirt can be cringe-inducing for any adult. But when the youth in question are on the spectrum, sometimes it can be all the more challenging to figure out whether—or how—to run interference. Take the case of Nina,* a 15 year-old girl who joined a recreational program for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).…
This piece was originally published on The Journey Through Autism and is re-posted here with permission. To all of the wonderful educators that have taught me: thank you for making my school life better! I have been so lucky to have such wonderful teachers in my life through elementary, middle, and the beginning of high school. Quick…
This piece was originally posted on The Mighty and is re-posted here with permission. Having autism can be tough, because you often have people who do not understand you or care about you making fun of the way you look, walk and talk. It’s a continuous battle I deal with every day. Sometimes there’s nothing…
This week’s blog is an original post by self-advocate Timothy Kiley. I’m 49 years old, and I’ve been autistic for 3 years now… Actually, I have been all my life, as are all autistic people. I just didn’t know it early on, like many of you may have. A person doesn’t just suddenly develop autism, nor…
