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Join Today’s Autism Positivity Day Flash Blog!

Today is the last chance for 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 hope you can participate in today’s Autism Positivity Day Flash Blog. Details and links below.  -TPGA Editors From the Autism Positivity Day Flash Blog site: Last year hundreds of bloggers came together in a show of support and solidarity in response to an anonymous person’s Google search “I wish I didn’t have Aspergers”. The posts that came flooding in from all over the world were a beautiful example of the power of strength in numbers. With so much negativity still surrounding Autism and the misinformation and misconceptions that continue to abound, we invite each of you to share one, or two, or more “Ausome” things! We invite all of you, anyone who is Autistic, anyone…

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Inclusion is NOT Social Action

Lisa Friedman jewishspecialneeds.blogspot.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 In a recent post, Inclusion is NOT a Program, I reflected on the notion that while all of our synagogue’s programs, classrooms, and worship opportunities should be inclusive, inclusion is not a program.  It’s not a one-time workshop or training session. Inclusion is an attitude, it is something that is just naturally woven into the fabric of what we do. At least it should be. Today I was reminded of something significant that I have learned from one of my mentors in the world of Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion. Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, Senior Advisor on Disability Issues at the Religious Action Center…

Asperger’s Syndrome Meets Alpha Male Syndrome

M incipientturvy.blogspot.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 7a.m., Monday morning. I make a rare appearance in the break room at work. I’m sipping coffee, trying to wake up. I’m standing in the corner hoping to avoid people, but a co-worker makes intentional eye contact and starts walking towards me. I think, “Why, god? Why?” I can’t remember his name or which department he’s from. The protective social mimicry kicks in. Co-worker: Dude, can you believe it? Me: Dude, I really can’t. I have no idea what he’s talking about. Co-worker: You know what I’m talking about … right? Me: Of course. You’re talking about … you know, what a surprise it…

Towards Acceptance

Emily Brooks 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 While paging through a local special needs magazine, I paused to scan though a section focusing on autism awareness. It informed me that I should care about autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) because there are so many autistic people that unfortunately it was likely I would meet somebody with autism in the near future if I hadn’t already. Being on the autism spectrum myself, I wondered why it would be so unfortunate for someone non-autistic, or neurotypical (NT), to meet me. ASD is — according to that special needs magazine, of all places — unfortunate. If this loaded term is part of “autism awareness,” then…

Autism: When the Right Message Goes Mainstream

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…

We’ve All Got Our Something

Emily Willingham emilywillinghamphd.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 What does it mean to be neurotypical or not? Someone told me via email that I seem to be “demand(ing) all the trappings of neurotypical privilege” in public while saying that I’m not neurotypical, and I’m wondering about many aspects of it. First, I’ll establish that I am what I say I am. That means that I’m a scientist, writer, editor, mother, life partner, and friend. There are adjectives to describe me, as well, but that’s a longer list, and I’ll avoid both the embarrassment and the indulgence. What I do know is that I’ve spent a lifetime being anything but neurotypical (I’m…

Book Review-And Straight On til Morning : Essays on Autism Acceptance

And Straight On til Morning : Essays on Autism Acceptance edited by Julia Bascom Published by the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network  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 In keeping with Autism Acceptance month, there probably isn’t a more appropriate book to share than And Straight On til Morning : Essays on Autism Acceptance, which contains the work of wonderful Autistics and allies, including Zoe Gross, Shain Neumeier, Lydia Brown, as well as Kassiane Sibley, and Shannon Des Roches Rosa from TPGA.  Julia Bascom edited the collection, and in its current  format, an ebook, it is available quickly, and very…

How to Be Socially Awkward, or, What I Learned In Social Skills Class

N. M. Silber extemporarysanity.wordpress.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 Warning: snark ahead. Over the years many people have “explained” the autism spectrum to me, for which I owe them a debt of gratitude. Without their thoughtful help I would never have guessed that I was cognitively impaired and lacked empathy. Who knew that I would never grasp the subtleties of language or concepts, like irony, sarcasm, or satire? More than anything, though, I deeply appreciate how their expertise helped to blend in flawlessly in social situations. Rather than just staying at home and doing things that make…

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How CalAcademy Could Be a More Autism-Friendly Science Center

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.Squidalicious.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 My son Leo and I are members at San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences for two reasons: 1) We want to support fabulous, hands-on science, and 2) We depend on members-only early entry hours so we can avoid the crowds and noise that don’t always mesh so well with Leo’s exuberant autism and his favorite CalAcademy routines. Though our CalAcademy trips are usually happy ones, today’s visit was a bit bumpy. Leo’s autistic behaviors — his loud squeals of happiness while watching his beloved Planetarium show, for…