Remember when tolerance was thought to be social progress, even though it emanated a clear subtext of “Oh, wellllllll, if I haaaave to…”? At the time, we thought the concept of racial tolerance or religious tolerance was revolutionary. And before “acceptance” we had “awareness,” which too often could imply that “we wanted to make you…
After being diagnosed with autism in her 30s, University of Tokyo student Satsuki Ayaya uses her personal experiences to help generate new theories that autism is a perceptual, rather than mainly social, disorder and its symptoms as resulting from differences in the way the brain processes information. In autism, the brain is said to emphasize discrepancies…
This is the second part to Kat Albee’s blog post Finding Resources. In the conclusion of her blog series, Kat includes additional guidance for how those in the autism community can continue to advocate for themselves. Using The Internet If you are reading this, then you have an advantage unique in all of human history. No, it’s…
Self-advocate Kat Albee highlights ways in which those on the spectrum can be resourceful and hold onto a positive outlook in a variety of real-world situations. This is Part One of her post. Part Two will be featured in next week’s blog. Changing Your Mindset I recently read a memoir called Growing Up Yanomamo. It’s about…
Self-advocate Kat Albee shares her knowledge on how to approach responding diplomatically in the blogosphere taking into consideration peoples’ differences and varying points of views. I was diagnosed at the age of 19 with a mild form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and as someone directly affected by ASD, I like to consider myself an…
Adjusting to the unstructured freedom that comes with attending college can be difficult for anyone, but for young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the college experience can be especially challenging. In addition to learning to lead independent lives juggling social and academic demands, students with ASD have limited services and accommodations to support their…
This post was originally published on the author’s website and is re-posted here with permission. Less than a third of all autistic adults are employed, either full-time or part-time. Less than a third. That means out of 3.5 million people with autism, only about 1 million of those people are employed. Most of them aren’t making…
This post originally appeared on The Journey Through Autism. It is re-posted here with permission. Throughout my life, I have been told and have overheard many comments regarding Autism. These comments aren’t usually meant to be mean, but rather show a lack of knowledge and understanding of Autism. Even though people aren’t meaning to upset me,…
This post originally appeared on The Mighty. It is re-posted here with permission. Christmas. Sparkling lights, late nights, lots of festive atmosphere, drinking, eating and being merry. For many people, it’s bliss. For me, as someone with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it’s anything but. People who loves Christmas don’t always understand why another person might not. I’m that…
This post originally appeared on The Mighty. It is re-posted here with permission. Communication is hard. It is hard especially if you were not pre-wired to recognize facial expressions, body language and other subtle nonverbal cues “normal” people think I can notice in conversations. I have always found myself trying to decipher human emotions like…
