-
How Developing a Freelance Brand Changed My Career
One thing I never expected in my professional life was creating a freelance brand that empowers me. I originally developed it as a way to showcase my talents, much like a website portfolio. I’ve always blended my lived experiences with my professional interests; human services and special...
-
Brilliance in Motion: How Autistic Students Navigate Unpredictable School Environments
The high school where I worked operated without the basic structures most people associate with education. There were no bells, no traditional classes, no grades. Students moved between community internships and loosely defined independent projects, navigating spaces filled with noise, movement,...
-
Beyond the Autistic Barbie: Seeing Children as They Truly Are
“Mummy, I want the autistic Barbie for Christmas.” It’s an ordinary request on the surface — a child asking for a doll — but it reveals something larger about the moment we’re in. Neurodiversity has become a storyline the marketplace is eager to package: a label here, a superpower...
-
What Is the Autistic Neurotype? Rethinking Autism Beyond the DSM
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) defines Autistic people through medicalized criteria that judge Autists from the outside; its diagnostic framework is constructed on allistic (nonautistic) observations, largely without Autistic input. As a result, the dominant...
-
“Autism Class”: Teaching Students in K-12 Autism Schools About Who They Are
The new student looks understandably full of questions. "Hi!" I say, intentionally gregarious. "What's your name?" Which we exchange...I then give them a sly facial expression and tone—we autistics are bad at reading non-verbal communication, but we usually live long enough to learn a thing...
-
The Transition to Adulthood: Bridging Skill Gaps to Strengthen Community Inclusion
For autistic individuals, the transition to adulthood represents a pivotal developmental period filled with both potential and uncertainty. While for the most part, adolescence through special education programs often comes with robust educational supports and structured services, adulthood...
-
From Dissertation to Destination: Navigating the Post-PhD Transition to Employment
Have you had a dream where you wake up and realize you’ve overslept and are missing your exam? Where you scramble to leave home, sprint to school, and futilely run down an empty corridor to an exam that’s done? That’s how I feel right now, but I’m not dreaming and, though the situation...
-
The Other Side of Autism: Intense World Theory
Social difficulties in autism are usually attributed to poor theory of mind. That’s not always the case. In my early thirties, I was diagnosed with what was then known as Asperger’s syndrome. Like many on the spectrum who receive a diagnosis late in life, this was something of a revelation,...
-
At the Intersection of Autism and Gender Diversity: Supporting Neuro-Gender Queer Youth
Gender-diverse and neurodiverse youth share more than just the word ‘diverse.’ These groups are not mutually exclusive populations but instead have considerable overlap. Estimates of the co-occurrence of neurodiversity and gender diversity vary. However, some research suggests that autistic...
-
Fostering Safety and Stability for Autistic Adults During the Transition from College to Career
For many young adults, the shift from college to career is a time of excitement and possibility. But for autistic adults, it can also bring a unique set of challenges, especially when systems of support that existed in educational settings begin to fall away. Without intentional planning,...
