Leveraging “Spectric” Honesty and Candor to Get Hired

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Coming of age with ADHD and aliens is tough. To survive high school, Geoff must challenge teachers, bullies, mind-meddling mutants from a parallel universe, and his own stubborn principles.

This is a guest post from writer and neurodiversity champion Claudia Casser. Claudia retired early from antitrust law to fledge her nerdy children on a working horse farm and write speculative fiction. From people to horses to parrots, none of the farm’s denizens could ever be classified as neurotypical.

Claudia’s 2016 semi-comic coming of age novel, “No Child Left Behind,” celebrates neurodiversity. Visit her website at www.ethicalantics.com, and buy her novel on Amazon.

Autism Interview #13: Anita Lesko on Health Care Consulting and Her All-Autism Wedding

Anita Lesko

Anita Lesko is the founder of the Global Autism Consulting Organization which aims to offer health care providers around the globe the knowledge and skills necessary to provide the best health care possible to their autistic patients. She and her husband Abraham assist small and large businesses in understanding their autistic employees and enabling them to incorporate people on the spectrum into their work team. Anita has an MS in Nurse Anesthesia and has been working as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist for 26 years. She didn’t receive a diagnosis until the age of 50, but since then has become an internationally recognized autism advocate. She answered questions for us about her mission to help autistic patients and workers in the health care industry as well as her all-autistic wedding.

The Roles and Responsibilities of the Neurotypical Autism Advocate

I’ve noticed recent articles and social media threads about how people on the spectrum feel exploited for their experiences. They feel as if the world sometimes treats them as if they only exist as educational vessels for the neurotypical public. This isn’t their intention, so I think it’s worth exploring why some people on the spectrum feel this way and how the neurotypical autism advocates can act differently to improve relations with the autistic community.

Religion and Autism: An Interview with a Religious Education Director

autism and religion

This week we hear from Robby Kiley, the Director of Religious Education at Saint Pius X Catholic Church in Granger, IN. He has a brother on the autism spectrum and holds a Masters in Divinity from the University of Notre Dame. He has experience both working in young adult and youth ministry, as well as programming for teens and adults with special needs. He lives in South Bend, IN with his wife, Ann.

On Outgrowing Autism

outgrowing autismSomeone commented to me recently about how my son’s particularities reminded him of his own son. He joked about his son, saying, “If he’d ever been tested as a child…who knows what they [the doctors] would have diagnosed him with!” I’ve heard similar statements many times before, and, while I know they are well-intentioned (meant to show similarities between typically developing children and those on the spectrum), they still bother me.

The Problem with Autism Labels

“Your son’s test results are consistent with a classic autism diagnosis.”

I stared at the psychologist and waited for her to continue. But she didn’t.

“Is it PDD-NOS? Or Asperger’s?” I asked.

“No,” she continued. “In order to be diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, he can’t have a language delay, which he clearly has. And he has enough symptoms that fall into the classic autism category of the spectrum.”

He’s Going to Make It: A Story of Autism Perseverance and Acceptance

Individuals on the spectrum shouldn’t have to fight to survive and function each day. I’ve heard individuals on the spectrum often speak about the exhaustion of managing their schedules each day because they are trying to live in a world that isn’t always aware of and sensitive to their needs. Jodie Van de Wetering, an autistic writer from Australia, explained this to me once, saying,

“It is over and above what a neurotypical person would need, and it is disheartening sometimes that I need three timers, a whiteboard and endless reminders and checklists to achieve what other people seem to be able to do with nothing more than a slim diary. But it’s not about doing what other people do, or looking sleek and elegant. It’s about getting the job done, and this is what I need to do that.”

This reminded me of how my son fought for survival after being born 3 months early and the subsequent obstacles he has faced with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy and autism. This week I wanted to share a personal essay I wrote almost 4 years ago about how my son had been putting up a daily fight to survive and then develop after his extreme premature birth. He hadn’t yet been diagnosed with autism, but the specialists were already swarming with predictions about his future. Writing this was one of the first steps to understanding the variety of different ways autistic people experience the world and beginning to work towards supporting their needs and advocating for autism acceptance.

Enjoy!