Mar 28
Yesterday, a formal ceremony in the Massachusetts State House made public a report by the Massachusetts Special Commission Relative to Autism, more commonly known as “The Autism Commission.” The picture here was taken after the event by Dania Jekel, Executive Director of AANE, showing Dave Harmon and me outside the State House. Dave and …
Mar 26
Last night, I attended the public unveiling of a project I’ve been following with great interest for quite some time now. My friends Cheryl and Alex Chan told the story of their years-long journey in finding a path to adulthood for their now-20-year-old Son, Nick. This testament to their love, perseverance, and creativity was an …
Mar 25
After all these years of observing how oddly (by other people’s standards) my body reacts to things, and even after several years of understanding that a lot of that has to do with being autistic, I still hesitate to assert myself. Case in point: I went in to my local clinic the other day to get a …
Mar 22
Receptive and Expressive Language All communication has two aspects: receptive language and expressive language. Receptive language is what we hear and understand. Expressive language is what we say to others. I believe that empathy is also a form of communication; one that is as essential to each of us as is spoken, written, or signed …
Mar 22
Good news! Those of us who are autistic are finally starting to get more recognition as to the important part of the population that we are. This follows closely on recent revelations in the Lancet that there is a close relationship between autism, bipolar, major depression, and schizophrenia. Just as autism is now understood to …
Feb 18
Today is a federal holiday. Officially, it is Washington’s Birthday. As the federal Office of Personnel Management states: This holiday is designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments …
Feb 17
I am a member of the AANE Advocacy Committee, and that committee is now following a fairly large number of bills that are before the Massachusetts General Court. Two of the bills are ones that we helped introduce (description and links at the end of this post). These and three others have been designated as …
Feb 02
A wonderful interview with Ari Ne’eman. He gives thoughtful, well-reasoned, and fact-based answers to questions about the false link between mental health and violent acts. A must read! He talks to Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi about the Newtown shooting and the role of mental illness in the US gun control debate.
Jan 25
Update: SUCCESS! The February 1 deadline has passed for seeking co-sponsors. At last count, the two bills had received the following number of petitioners in each chamber (percentage of all legislators is indicated in parens). The next step for us will be to prepare for hearings. Bill numbers will be assigned and the bills will …
Dec 29
In the New York Times, no less. Although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given their recent history of publishing really terrible pieces about autism, particularly at the height of the DSM-5 controversy. And, as it turns out, the author of one of those pieces is back, this time to dis schizophrenic people. I wonder which population …