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.
Thank you to all of the speakers, volunteers, and attendees that made the Autism Now Center’s first regional summit a success!
At the Autism NOW DC Regional Summit, the team from Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered had many opportunities to participate as attendees, speakers and panelists, and leaders for break-out sessions.
The DC Autism Now Regional Summit was the most enriching experience we have had in a long time. We came as parents to gain more knowledge and perspective for our daughter Jazmyn, and we left with much more.
Hello my name is Amy Goodman and I joined the Autism NOW team last month as the new Co-Director. I live in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, and I am on the Autism Spectrum. I was relieved to finally have a diagnosis and name for some issues I was having. With that diagnosis, I was finally able to put my life in perspective and focus on who I am.
Many people ask me what it was like growing up with a brother with classic autism. Well, I tell them, “When I was younger the world was a very different place. Back then, very few people knew about autism and only a handful had any clue on how to treat it.”
As allies and professionals we need to emphasize strengths not just weaknesses when portraying adults with autism. With support, people with autism can live inter-independently, work and be productive members of our communities. Here are suggestions for promoting autism acceptance.
One day, in case you ever feel like knowing more about how you light up our world, I am building a digital hope chest of words for you to read or hear. People say it doesn’t matter what I write. You won’t understand. Ever. But I believe in my heart when it is time to read or hear this, you will.
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.
