Autism Interview #111: Drew Sullivan on Journalism, Misconceptions, and Connecting with the Autistic Community

Drew Sullivan is an autistic writer and journalist who looks for opportunities to amplify silenced voices through his work. He currently attends school at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and writes for the Amherst Wire. This week Drew shared some common autism misconceptions and how he learned to develop a positive autistic identity by connecting with the autistic community.

Autism Interview #101: Elizabeth Crawford on Listening, Marriage, and Autistic Identity

Elizabeth Crawford is an autistic freelance book editor and writer who blogs at Return to Innocence. She’s on a mission to support other women with Asperger’s Syndrome by writing about her life experiences. She has a new book Chameleon: An Asperger’s Memoir that released this month. This week she shared her experience as a former teacher in a school for autistic children as well as her experience navigating social life and the learning curve of personal relationship development.

Autism Interview #66: Kat Muir on Socializing, CBT, and Advocacy

Kat Muir is a speech-language pathologist employed at Easterseals Crossroads. She has a B.S. in Speech & Hearing Science and an M.A. in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology. She speaks fluently in English, Spanish, German, French, Farsi, ASL and some Mandarin and is currently working on learning Vietnamese. She is also a member of Mensa and a public speaker. This week she shared how she has managed some of her personal struggles as well as how she works today to help others with disabilities.

Autism Interview #52: Mark Kent on Asperger’s Syndrome and M.E.

Mark Kent is an autistic writer and married father of four. Mark lives with Aspergers and Myalgic Encephalopathy (M.E.) (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), a condition that makes everyday tasks challenging. Mark participates in a variety of research studies related to autism and M.E. and blogs about them at http://mark-kent.webs.com/ in order to help others improve awareness and understanding of people with disabilities. This week he shared some of his personal experiences as a father of four with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Autism Interview #50: Roy Dias on Aspergers and Fatherhood

Roy Dias teaches English as a second language at a school in Portugal where he lives with his wife and two sons. He and his two sons are all diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. In addition to teaching and caring for his family, he writes fiction to promote autism understanding and acceptance, including the Aspean series. This week he shared his experience publishing his series and raising two sons on the spectrum.

Autism Interview #45: A.J. Mahari on the Stigma of Asperger’s Syndrome

A.J. Mahari is a counselor, life coach, mental health and personal development coach, and author on the spectrum. A.J. was diagnosed with Asperger’s at age 40 and manages the website aspergeradults.ca, which seeks to talk about not only her own experience and insights as an adult with Asperger’s, but also call attention to the gender differences in females and males with AS. This week A.J. shared some of her experiences as a counselor to other individuals with Asperger’s, the stigma of autism, and how to advocate for people on the spectrum.

 

Autism Interview #10: Chris Bonnello on Understanding Different Perspectives

Chris Bonnello

Chris Bonnello is a public speaker and writer with Asperger’s syndrome from Great Britain. He formerly taught primary school in Britain where he worked in special education classes with children on all areas of the spectrum. Chris currently blogs at autisticnotweird.com where he writes to raise awareness about the needs of people on the spectrum and offer guidance to those “trying to navigate their way through life with autism.” He is also working on his MA in Creative Writing.