autism

I’m Autistic and Scared of Your Dog

Some of My Favorite Summer Places Feel Perilous When People Flout Leash Laws

Small and big dogs playing at a beach while a 'No Dogs Allowed' sign is visible on the left.

It’s a beautiful summer day in Venice, California, and everyone seems to be out enjoying the beach—except for me.

I am profoundly autistic. As a result, I may jump up and down at strange moments or laugh uncontrollably. I cannot speak at all except for a few rote phrases, though I can write with the aid of a letter board or electronic device. And I am profoundly afraid of the dogs off their leashes that seem to be everywhere, especially in summertime.

It does not matter how small or large the dog …

by Jason Jacoby Lee |

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Were Mr. Darcy and Boo Radley Anti-Social Misfits—or Autistic?

How Fiction Can Reframe a Misunderstood Mental Condition

By Donna Levin |

Is autism cool?

It is in literature, as novels featuring characters on the autism spectrum have become so frequent that they’ve spawned a new genre: “autism lit,” or “aut lit.”

Many of …

Tech Workers with Autism Try to Reboot

The Promise—and Difficulty—of Job-Hunting in Silicon Valley When Your Brain Is Wired Differently

By Michael Bernick |

How big is the gap between all the rhetoric about the value of employing people with autism and other brain-wiring differences and the realities of the job market?

You …

Mesa Public Schools’ Jan Cawthorne

An Educator Surprised to Be Continuing Her Own Education

Jan Cawthorne is executive director of special education in Mesa Public Schools, Arizona’s largest unified school district. Before participating in a panel on autism education, she explained why she studied …

My Kid Has Autism. Now What?

We’ve Come A Long Way in Educating Kids With Autism, But That Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy

by Sarah Rothbard |

Autism education has come a long way in the past few decades, but diagnosing children with autism, figuring out how best to teach them, and raising awareness among students, parents, …


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