Open Society

Autism consultation, education, and individual skill development

Autism is primarily defined by its deficits in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, 1). However, autism can be defined as a natural, valuable part of human experience in which the ability to thrive depends on the match between the individual and their social context (2,3,4,5,6,7,8). Autistic strengths have been noted since autism was first defined (9). A growing body of literature has demonstrated how strengths in social communication, focused interests, stimming, sensory abilities, systems thinking, and cognition can be part of autism (10,11,12,13). Despite the neurodiversity movement, autism is still associated with stigma (14,15,16). Diagnostic evaluations often focus exclusively on problems without considering strengths (17,18). Most questionnaires, observational tools, and interview questions tabulate problems to determine if someone is autistic, but they miss the comprehensive view of what it means to be autistic. The autism diagnostic evaluation is a critical time in a person's life, with some individuals referring to it as the most important experience of their life (19,20). When an individual is first discovering they or their child is autistic, providing strengths-based information can counter stigma. Interactions with professionals can shape self-understanding and parental understanding of their child (21,22). Autism-specific strengths-based measures that allow clinicians to assess for autistic strengths during diagnosis are needed. ...

‘Autistic inertia’ is part of the Autistic community’s everyday lexicon, yet the condition has received scant attention in the academic literature. The little a...

These adults can warn parents about avoidable mistakes, and they can counter our assumptions about what it means to live a good life — even when that life is complicated.

Hello, I am Helen Edgar (Autistic Realms). As guest blog writer for this season’s summary of monotropism, I am sharing a round-up of published work, social media interest, and some updates from inside the Monotropism Discord server (please email Fergus Murray if you wish to join us). Monotropism-related academic research Wachholtz, D., Vidal, V., Latimer, […]

A thread on how to access journal articles, for people who don't have access via an employer... Obv open access is best, but in the meantime, here are some get-arounds, since I've seen a few folks on here struggling to locate articles / coming up against paywalls

Fossil Angels was written by Alan Moore in December 2002, and was to appear in KAOS #15. KAOS #15 never actually appeared, and the piece has been without a home since then. (More information about KAOS and why this wasn't published there in this article on Bleeding Cool.) I was lucky enough to be…

Erin ‘Folletto’ Casali Erin Casali, known as “Folletto”, is a senior product design director and coach. She has a hybrid background in design, psychology, business and technology — with a people-centered approach. Over the years she built products and helped businesses transform by trusting people and giving them agency and by clarifying goals, with a

In this research, we take a neurodiversity-informed approach to understanding autistic play. This means understanding autistic play in terms of differences, strengths and difficulties rather than simply deficits. We also focus on what autistic people say about their play. We were interested in how autistic adults experience play, as well as how they think their play is different to non-autistic play.

Autistic and non-autistic observers form less favorable impressions of autistic adults relative to non-autistic adults, yet only non-autistic adults report lowe...

Autistic kids who experience burnout will need understanding, flexibility, increased sensory regulation time, and a decrease in demands.

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Despite stereotypes, many autistic people yearn for meaningful relationships, but they are daunted by neurotypicals’ assumptions about them

Wheelchairs and Mobility Aids with Lithium Ion Batteries that are Not Adequately Protected and Batteries Removed Electric wheelchair, mobility scooter

Description Organize your gear with the Prepper’s Color-Coding Kit for quick and easy identification. The kit contains 10x AnchorWrap strips (1

Belonging in School - a school-level resource for developing inclusive policies

20/20 Captioning provides CART and remote CART services to the deaf and hard of hearing. We work with secondary and post secondary colleges and universities, corporations and businesses around the world to provide access to the spoken word to the deaf and hard of hearing.

The takeover of Houston ISD sits at the intersection of so many issues impacting American education today: democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarianism; the so-called “parents’ rights movement”; testing and accountability measures; poverty, racism, and charter schools; We would be wise to understand what’s happening in Houston as a canary-in-the-coal-mine. Published by Human Restoration Project, a 501(c)3 organization restoring humanity to education.

It’s hard loving something that doesn’t love you back. Or, to be more specific, it’s hard loving something that only loves you when you’re in pain.

Monotropism is a theory of autism which was first developed by autistics Dinah Murray and Wenn Lawson. Dinah and Wenn independently formulated the key ideas of monotropism, then later worked together for years developing, explaining and applying the theory. Their work has helped people to make sense of autism and how it manifests in themselves and others. There is an…

To drive value, high performing cognitively diverse teams must tap into each other's strengths by working collaboratively. It's easier said than done.

Autistic burnout is an incredibly difficult experience where your brain is in overdrive and you always feel stressed

I have never visualized anything in my entire life. I can't "see" my father's face or a bouncing blue ball, my childhood bedroom or the run I went on 10 minutes ago. I'm 30 years old, and I never knew a human could do any of this.