Her words are always with me. “You can’t talk to me! You don’t know what it’s like to have to fight for your child’s life every single day! I’m always fighting. I’m exhausted.” I was conducting an autism workshop for community leaders in Brooklyn, New York, when Tamika* walked straight up to me at the front of the room. Her words, spoken through tears of…
Janel Miles’s motivation for taking on the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon this fall with the RUN FOR AUTISM team was crystal clear. “I’m running to raise awareness and funds for everyone like my son, Maxton, who deserves to live in a world filled with acceptance, inclusion, and kindness.” Maxton, now a middle schooler,…
The Wrong Kind of Praise “You don’t look autistic.” I was in middle school when those words were first spoken to me, delivered with a smile as if they were the highest form of praise. I had just finished presenting on ableism for an “isms” project in my class, sharing my personal connection to the…
At the end of September, NIH awarded more than $50 million in funding to 13 projects that will examine how genetics and environmental factors determine a person’s risk of developing autism. Those projects, part of NIH’s Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI), will be housed at universities, including Drexel, Emory, Johns Hopkins, University of North Carolina, and University of California, and hospitals such as Children’s Hospital…
At summer’s end, five volunteers completed training to become Hire Autism’s newest navigators. Navigators prepare job seekers for their search, helping them to gain new confidence and skills. Beau Ramirez, Meena Bappudi, Dwight Garvin, Terri Swanson, and Jessica Lizardi come from various personal and professional backgrounds, with careers in sales, healthcare technology, project management, education,…
On September 25, OAR hosted OAR Impact Day: From Research to Reality to bring together autistic individuals, families, researchers, and direct service providers and celebrate the meaningful impact research has on the autism community. The virtual event showcased the many ways OAR’s funded research has translated into practical tools, interventions, and programs. The archived event materials are available to access for free on…
When most people think about autism, they think of it as something that only affects children. Yet autism is a lifelong condition, and most autistic people are adults. Based on census data for the United States and the United Kingdom (and most other western countries), 20% of the autistic population are under 18 and 80%…
Community-based interventions are limited for autistic adults. Could community programs fill some of the gap? Programs that foster self-expression, confidence, and leadership offer promising opportunities to help neurodivergent adults to develop skills they need to achieve their goals. In their 2022 OAR-funded study, Amplifying Autistic Voices: Investigating the Impact of a Community-Based Public Speaking Program, researchers…
The alarm goes off late. You rush through the morning, skipping breakfast and brushing your teeth with the last squeeze of toothpaste. By the time you’re out the door, the plan for the day already feels derailed. It’s a familiar pattern. One small change snowballs into giving up on the rest. Keeping up with sleep, hygiene, and nutrition can be hard for anyone, and…
