-
Navigating Autism and Stigma in the Hispanic Community
In many Hispanic and Latino communities, stigma around autism remains a painful barrier to support. From whispered judgments at family gatherings to systemic bias in healthcare settings, families often face an uphill battle to accessing services and feeling supported and understood. Georgina...
-
Living at Home as an Autistic Adult: When Society Confuses Support with Failure
While many neurotypical adults move away from home at some point in their 20s, many autistic adults like me may live at home well into their later adult years (Marsack-Topolewski et al., 2021). This isn’t because we’re failing but rather because we need more time to reach our various milestones...
-
Helping Autistic Teens Thrive: Shifting the Focus from Stigma to Strength
In recent years, our understanding of autism has grown. Yet, despite this progress, many autistic individuals—especially teens—continue to face negative stigmas and outdated assumptions (Turnock & Langley, 2023). Adolescence is already a time of major change and self-discovery, and for...
-
Reframing Pathological Demand Avoidance: A Neurodiversity-Affirming Perspective
Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is an unnecessary and dehumanizing label. It has become frequently mentioned in the autism community as a new diagnostic label often driven by anxiety and a need for control describing adamant refusal of everyday demands, often driven by anxiety and/or need for...
-
Breaking the Silence: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for Autistic Children
Imagine your child has thoughts, feelings, and ideas but struggles to say them out loud. For many parents of children on the autism spectrum, this is a daily experience. This is where Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) can help. What is AAC? Augmentative and Alternative...
-
Increasing Autism Awareness and Reducing the Stigma of Autism in China
Autism Awareness Month, mandated by the United Nations (UN), provides an opportunity for scholars, community service providers, and the broader public to come together to increase community knowledge of autism. These events may help to reduce the stigma that surrounds this complex...
-
Natural Supports: A Lifeline for Families Like Mine
In 2024, my world changed forever. I lost my father to prostate cancer—a man whose strength and love defined the very foundation of my family. He fought with everything he had to stay alive long enough to care for my mom, who was battling dementia. Even as his own health declined, he dedicated...
-
The Neurodiversity Movement: Promoting Acceptance and Understanding
Diversity is a cornerstone of human society, encompassing the range of identities, experiences, and backgrounds people bring to their communities. This includes differences in ability, race, gender, age, and more. For people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD), diversity also...
-
Building Effective Autism Treatment Plans: A Collaborative and Compassionate Approach
“Treatment plan,” it’s a word one hears over and over again in the field of ABA. Treatment plans are fantastic in helping us guide programming for the clients and families we serve. Although treatment plans can often be received defensively by a client, parents, and other caregivers....
-
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,...
