-
Empowering Resilience: How Occupational Therapy Supports Autistic Adolescents with Depression
Adolescence can be a challenging time for anyone, but for Autistic teens, the journey can come with unique emotional, social, and sensory hurdles. Depression is more common among Autistic youth than their neurotypical peers, often going undiagnosed or misunderstood. Research shows Autistic...
-
It Is Time to Remove Stigma from Autism Interventions
Historically, autism has been blamed for the challenges autistic people face. Struggling to stay in school? Get a job? Make friends? “It's because of the autism.” The belief is this: If autistic people are trained to behave like someone without autism, they will face fewer challenges. Under...
-
Studying Us to Death: The Lethal Cost of Autism Research Without Autistic Investigators
I was formally diagnosed with autism and ADHD at the age of 44. I finally had an explanation for why so many things in my life seemed so much harder for me than for others. There was a reason I often felt like the people around me were having two conversations – one with words that I had full...
-
Becoming the Person I Once Needed
I often think to myself, “I do this so that no other autistic child has to go through what I went through.” As an autism researcher with a background in social psychology, I’ve developed a pretty good understanding of stigma over time. But it wasn’t any article, study, course, or the...
-
The Mental Health Effects of Autism Stigma
Autism, in itself, is not a disorder of mental health. Yet autistic people are disproportionately affected by depression, anxiety, and suicidality. The connection is not biological alone — it is social. Much of the psychological distress experienced by autistic individuals stems from how they are...
-
The Impact of Autism and Co-Occurring Gastrointestinal Issues on Child Flourishing
Author’s note: Recent trends in language use within the autism community show a divide between professionals who often prefer person-first language (e.g., “person with autism”) and autistic advocates who often favor identity-first language (e.g., “autistic person”), for reasons of...
-
Trauma-Informed Care in the Criminal Justice System: Supporting the Emotional and Physical Wellness of Autistic Individuals
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face unique and complex challenges within the criminal justice system, largely due to environments and interactions that are often not suited to their sensory, communication, and emotional needs. A critical yet underexplored issue is the intersection...
-
Preventing the Hidden Burnout Crisis in Autistic Women and Girls
One of the most heart-wrenching things I realized as a late-identified Autistic woman was just how disconnected I was from my true self. Decades of masking, of becoming a professional-level chameleon, left me feeling like I didn't even know who "me" was anymore. It was this constant, buzzing,...
-
The InsideOut Program: Promoting Fitness and Friendship in College Students
Students Tackling Autism-Related Syndromes (STARS) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that was founded by Kim Jameson, the parent of an autistic son, in 2015, at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN, to support students socially, academically, and pre-professionally. STARS is open to all students at...
-
Why Don’t Autistic Women Get Diagnosed, and Why Is It So Important?
I’ve diagnosed unrecognized autistic women for ten years and worked with them in therapy. These women are often successfully employed and married or with partners. They might have children and be involved in working with schools on their children’s behalf. Some might have struggled in jobs or...
