Plants Outside the Shade
This is a personal description of some of what autism means to me.
This is a personal description of some of what autism means to me.
During the summer of 2012, I was awarded the wonderful opportunity to intern at the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) as part of The Washington Center (TWC) Internships and Academic Seminars Program.
The struggle for disability rights and acceptance is like a long, dark tunnel. We can make it out the other side, but only by the combined light of our candles.
In the fall of 2011, Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered collaborated with seven self-advocacy organizations to run focus forums with 10 to 30 peer leaders with developmental disabilities. These are their responses.
Reading the blogs of autistic people is a way to realize that all this is possible and give you both hope that this will happen for your kid and ideas on how to help your kid make it happen.
In the disability rights movement, sheltered workshops and the sub-minimum wage are HUGE topics. I am going to share what I hear from Self-Advocates I’ve spoke to as Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered Vice President.
In the words of Kris, “To be able to communicate is a luxury, and it is a right not to be taken for granted. I’m trying to tell you all that without typing – I would be left without a voice.”
My name is Kyle Moriarty. I am twenty-one years old and I attend Montpelier High School in Vermont. There are many barriers in my way. One barrier for me is not having someone to support my typing. With support I am able to express my feelings and ideas. This helps reduce my level of stress because I can communicate.
What is our place in the world? Who are we? Those questions should be easy to answer. Yet, they are not.
Growing up as a child I have had to overcome many obstacles to get to where I am today. There were some teachers who thought because of my social skills and academic challenges that I couldn’t succeed in the regular high school curriculum. Every day I wake up I always feel that I have to earn my keep and prove everyone else in my community wrong.