What is Autism

“Maror,” drawn by Hilary’s daughter, Aitza. People with autism are said to have difficultly recognizing and interpreting emotions in themselves and others. I say, likewise people without autism may have difficulty recognizing and interpreting the emotions of autistic people. I feel all sorts of emotions, though I may not display them or process them in the manner [...]

Dr. Temple Grandin is one of the greatest autism advocates of our time. A six-time author with a Ph.D. in animal studies, Grandin is a living example of the potential of the autism community. We asked you, our autism community, what you would ask Dr. Grandin if given the chance. We took questions from autistic individuals and their parents, and asked Dr. Grandin [...]

Who am I? That book “Tuesday,” how could it be called Tuesday when it was in fact Monday? It really annoyed me because it wasn’t accurate. The pictures in the book were equally annoying as they showed pictures of frogs flying. Frogs don’t fly, right? I was having an autism assessment to try to finally [...]

Whether you (or someone you love) have just received an autism diagnosis, have been a part of the autism community for a while, or simply want to learn more about autism, this book of stories is for you. This book is comprised of stories from the perspective of people on the autism spectrum as well [...]

Has anyone ever come up to you and asked you point blank, “What is autism?” As someone who has made a career in public speaking, I’m often asked by hundreds of people each year who are just being introduced to autism about what autism is. While autism is defined and characterized as a social and [...]

Rebecca Burgess sees a problem with the way many people perceive the autism spectrum. Her resolution? The comic below. The Tumblr user debuted “Understanding the Spectrum” (below), which gets rid of the linear autism spectrum image (i.e. you’re either “not autistic, “very autistic” or somewhere in between) and replaces it with a round spectrum full of several traits [...]

Stimming, or self-stimulatory behaviors, are behaviors people with autism may exhibit to counteract an overwhelming sensory environment or alleviate the high levels of internal anxiety, according to Temple Grandin’s post in Autism Digest. Some examples of stimming are rocking, spinning, pacing, repeating words or flapping of arms or hands. Autistic people aren’t the only ones who [...]