Liz Feld and Autism Speaks: No, Really, You Need to Listen

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.thinkingautismguide.com Liz Feld may be the President of Autism Speaks, but her recent A Call for Unity letter is not exactly presidential. Unless your idea of a good President is someone unable to take clues from the majority of the people they are supposed to be leading and serving. Ms. Feld’s letter is as tone-deaf and wrongheaded as then-President George W. Bush feeling insulted by Kanye West’s post-Katrina remarks that Bush “doesn’t care about Black people” — instead of asking himself why Kanye was so outraged. Feld’s letter is an equally clueless, defensive, and dismissive response to NeuroTribes author Steve Silberman’s Los Angeles Times op ed Autism Speaks Needs to Do a Lot More Listening, in which Silberman critiques Autism Speaks outright on its leadership, community outreach, and research investment practices. Feld rarely addresses Silberman’s points directly (she doesn’t even link to his article), choosing instead…

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NeuroTribes Is Finally Here: Celebrating With a Review, and a Giveaway

Shannon Des Roches Rosa  www.Squidalicious.com   Steve Silberman and Leo Rosa [image: a white man with short salt-and pepper hair, and a white teen boy with short curly brown hair, sitting on a green bench.] Steve Silberman’s long-awaited book NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity arrives in bookstores today. Finally! If you have any interest in autism whatsoever, then trust me, you need this book. (No, really. We are so excited that NeuroTribes exists that we’re hosting a giveaway, details below.) I’ll be upfront with my disclosure: When Silberman described his intention to write a book that “upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differently,” my family and I agreed (and were honored) to be included in the project. But I would recommend NeuroTribes regardless; I’ve been pining for an autism…