The Autistic Me

In January, 2014, I was elected to the board of directors for the Advisory Board on Autism and Related Disorders (ABOARD), Autism Connection of Pennsylvania. For information about ABOARD's Autism Connection services, visit http://autism-support.org/ . Readers know that I'm not a rally or march type of activist. My activism is quiet, personal, and usually through engagement with students and educators. I speak to groups whenever asked, providing my perspective and offering advice when possible. This one-on-one and small-group activism is more comfortable, and I believe the most effective use of my skills. Simply doing my job is a form of activism. I don't claim to be a role model and I don't intend to inspire others. What I do is demonstrate that those with various physical and neurological challenges can be, and should be, productive members of our communities. ABOARD supports individuals through education, job training, and social skills supports. The purpose o...

It is possible that all two or three of my regular followers have noticed the relative inactivity of this blog. Though I have tried to consider if there's anything of value to share, the simple fact is that nothing is compelling me to write about autism, autistic culture, autism causes, or anything of the sort at the moment. In a week or two, I'll have a real post about autism activism and a new role I am assuming, but I want to wait until things are a bit more formalized. As readers know, I'm not as outspoken or passionate about some issues as other autism activists, preferring to work quietly on issues of training and support for autistics. Our lives here have been busy, and when I am busy I do let the blogging slip. This is especially true when life is busy in a good way and I don't have a need to complain, gripe, or criticize the world around me. Quite simply, life is busy in a good way. Okay, good in all ways except for a cold I also gave to my wife. The...