Living With Autism

My Fear Toolkit

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 05.20.2012

Read More: Living Fearlessly, Living With Autism, Fear, Becoming Fearless, Autism, Autistic, Parenting, Denver, Overcoming Fear, Conquering Fear, Fearlessness, Fearless, Handling Fear, Fears, Becoming-Fearless, Healthy Living News

Fear has a way of sliding in through the back door, oozing between my thoughts, thrusting itself into any and all thinking if I allow it to. So I've learned I have to cut it off at the pass.

Read Post

Remembering Brian Hughes - Innocence, Prison, Mental Illness, AIDS and Family

Patrick Hughes, Jr. | Posted 05.09.2012

Read More: Living With Autism, Autistic Children, Autistic Family Members, Children With Mental Illnesses, Raising Autistic Children, Mental Illnesses, Autism, Chicago Impact, Aids, Living With AIDS, Video, Chicago News

My parents discussed with me what it was like to raise a child with mental illness. I am forever grateful to my parents for making Brian part of our lives, and for their extraordinary generosity in sharing his story with people we have yet to meet.

Read Post

Emma's New Shoes

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 05.08.2012

Read More: Living With Autism, Parents of Autistic Children, Autistic Children, Sensory Issues, Sensory Overload, Sensory Integration, Autism, Autistic, Parenting, Denver, Life With Autism, Healthy Living News

Because of her many and varied sensory issues, Emma doesn't like wearing shoes, or socks, for that matter. So, no. We did not have sneakers to send into school. However, I decided to change that.

Read Post

WATCH: Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman Opens Up About Son's Autism

Posted 05.03.2012

Read More: Black Children Autism, Autism Diagnosis, Autism Awareness, Boyz II Men, Living With Autism, Autism Treatment, Boyz Ii Men Autism, Boyz 2 Men Autism, Autism Early Intervention, Shawn Stockman Son, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Shawn Stockman Autism, African Americans Autism, Video, Autism Definition, Micah's Voice, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autism Treatment Cost, Autism Cost of Care, Autism Intervention Vost, Autism, Autism Funding, Boyz II Men Shawn, Shawn Stockman Micah's Voice, Black Kids Autism, Shawn Stockman, Black Voices News

Shortly after his first birthday, Shawn Stockman says his son Micah suddenly began to change. The R&B singer who earned accolades and world-renown as ...

Read Whole Story

A Letter to You (Who Wrote 'I Wish I Didn't Have Aspergers')

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 04.30.2012

Read More: Autism Awareness, Living With Autism, Autistic Children, Denver News, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autism Positivity, Parenting, Healthy Living, Autism, Autistic, Autism Acceptance, Autism Positivity 2012 Flash Blog, Aspergers, Depression, Parenting an Autistic Child, Healthy Living News

Speak out, and while many may not want to listen or may even try to silence you, do not let them. Do not remain silent. Add your voice to the chorus of others who are here with you, who are like you, who also have Aspergers.

Read Post

Running With Mermaids

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Raising Autistic Kids, Parents of Autistic Children, Autistic Children, Living With Autistic Children, Parenting, Autism, Autistic, Self Stimulation, Stimming, Child With Autism, Living With Autism, Healthy Living News

When Emma showed interest in the mermaid, I had high hopes for Mirabelle's return. Only, it turns out, Emma's mermaid did not hold the same sort of feelings as Mirabelle had for me.

Read Post

A Parent's Guide to Responding to a Child's Autism Diagnosis

Todd Drezner | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Healthy Living News, Autism Awareness, Living With Autism, Autism, Autistic Children, Mental Health, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Parents News

What should you do if you're a parent who's concerned about your child, but would like a realistic guide to accepting your child's autism and helping him to thrive as an autistic person?

Read Post

Minus One Equals Zero

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 04.17.2012

Read More: Life With Autism, Living With Autism, Parenting and Autism, Writing, Adult Autistics, Parenting, Healthy News, Child With Autism, Education, Literacy, Health, Autists, Health News, Autistic, Reading, The Third Glance, Autism, Healthy Living News

I am constantly impressed with my 10-year-old autistic daughter Emma's mind and creative use of words. I often think when I listen to her that there's a kind of poetry in the way she phrases things, the way she will use seemingly unrelated words to describe something.

Read Post

A Stranger on the Subway and Musings on Autism

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Adult Autism, Blazing My Trail, Autism, Autistic, Parenting, Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, Life With Autism, Child With Autism, Living With Autism, Parenting and Autism, Healthy Living News

The fact that Emma was able to communicate to Joe that she'd had a rough day is a massive leap forward for her. Secondly, that she was able to then make it known that what she now wanted to do was see me was nothing short of amazing.

Read Post

Autism: Death, Fear and Hope

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 04.09.2012

Read More: Living With Autism, Parents of Autistic Children, Autistic Children, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Health, Autism, Autistic, Life With Autism, Healthy Living News

There is a large and thriving community out there of both autists and parents of autists who are writing, blogging, commenting and reaching out to one another. The only requirement to join this community is a desire for connection.

Read Post

The New Autism Numbers

Todd Drezner | Posted 04.05.2012

Read More: Autism Awareness, Living With Autism, Autism, Autistic Children, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mental Health, Prevalence of Autism, Cdc Autism, Autism Prevalence, Cdc, Healthy Living Health News, Healthy Living News

It's worth looking beyond the headlines to understand how the CDC arrived at the new autism prevalence numbers, and what those numbers do -- and don't -- mean.

Read Post

Autism Is a National Epidemic That Needs a National Plan

Mark Roithmayr | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Autism Speaks, Living With Autism, Autism, Autistic Children, Autism Epidemic, Adults With Autism, Impact News

With new CDC numbers now showing that 1 in 88 children in the United States is being diagnosed with autism -- nearly doubling the prevalence since the CDC began tracking these numbers -- autism can now officially be declared an epidemic in the United States.

Read Post

Life With Autism: Finding Challenging Work

John Elder Robison | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Life With Autism, Living With Autism, Autism Awareness, Autism Awareness Month, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autism, National Autism Awareness Month, Life With Aspbergers, Aspbergers, Autism Spectrum, Living With Aspbergers, Healthy Living News

How does an autistic person establish himself or herself in a satisfying career? That's the challenge we all face, and the degree to which we succeed varies quite widely.

Read Post

Autism 'Awareness'

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: Autism Awareness, Healthy Living, Living With Autism, Autistic Children, Autism Awareness Month, Autism, Autistic, Parenting, Autists, Autist, Healthy Living News

I am profoundly grateful to each and every one of the autists who are speaking out and expressing their opinions on their blogs and through other forms of media. If we want autism awareness, these are the voices that need to be heard. It is up to us to listen.

Read Post

Living With Autism: You Are Not Alone

Elaine Hall | Posted 05.19.2012

Read More: Depression, San Jose Mercury News, Suicide, Oceans Heaven, Autism, Mabul, Special Needs Children, Parenting Child With Autism, Child With Autism, Living With Autism, Healthy Living News

Raising any child with a disability or illness can be difficult to say the least. But for many reasons, and for many people, parenting a child with autism can be especially overwhelming.

Read Post

Kids With Autism at a Synagogue on Purim? Not a Prayer, Right?

Amy Lennard Goehner | Posted 05.12.2012

Read More: Synagogue, Autism, Special Needs Children, Living With Autism, Parents of Autistic Children, Autistic Children, Purim, Kids With Autism, Children With Autism, Parents News

Families with kids aged 2 to 20-something were encouraged by the rabbis to walk around when they needed to, bring their snacks back to their seats, dance to the music or do none of the above if they didn't want to. What didn't I hear? The words "SSSHHHHH!" or "Sit down!"

Read Post

Waging War

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 04.16.2012

Read More: Healthy Living Health News, Living With Autism, Autism News, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Health, Alternative Medicine, Autism, Parenting, Child With Autism, Autism in Children, Autistic Child, Autism Child, Children With Autism, Parents News

Emma is my daughter, who happens to have autism. The autism piece is complicated. The beautiful little girl/daughter piece is not.

Read Post

Diagnosis: The Day Everything, And Nothing Changed

Jenee Woodard | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Autism Awareness, Autism, Living With Autism, Child Development, Autism Diagnosis, Religion News

In 1994, autism was not recognized or diagnosed "early." The attitude was "wait and see" because the diagnosis of "autism" invariably meant life-long severe disability, not the "spectrum" we recognize today.

Read Post

Nickels, Dimes and 'High-Functioning' Autism

Todd Drezner | Posted 03.12.2012

Read More: Living With Autism, Autism, Autism Adults, Autism-High-Functioning, Autistic, Autism Children, Children With Autism, Autism Spectrum, Healthy Living News

Why does the autism community continue to obsess over categorizing people as high or low functioning? It's true that the needs of one autistic person may be very different from the needs of another, but that doesn't mean that they have nothing in common.

Read Post

Hope: Autism

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 02.11.2012

Read More: Healthy Living Health News, Living With Autism, Healthy Living News, Raising Children, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mental Health, Healthy Living, Autistic, Autism, Parenting, Special Needs Children, Parents News

There's hope, and then there's desperation. Often I am not sure which one is pushing me more.

Read Post

What They Didn't Tell Me About My Child's Autism

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 01.10.2012

Read More: Healthy Living Health News, Living With Autism, Healthy Living, Mental Health, Autistic Children, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Raising Children, Autism, Autistic, Special Needs Children, Parenting, Healthy Living Mind, Healthy Living News

Having a child with autism may cause you to feel things you never dreamed possible. You may know moments of joy and moments of despair you could not have imagined.

Read Post

Finding Humor In Autism

Todd Drezner | Posted 01.08.2012

Read More: Sesame Street, Glee, Living With Autism, Autism, The Onion, The Daily Show, Humor, Comedy News

I don't mean to suggest that every successful joke about autism will necessarily portray it positively. But I do think that good jokes at least have to portray autism originally. Easy stereotypes don't get laughs, no matter what the topic.

Read Post

My 9-Year-Old Is More Than A Diagnosis

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 09.28.2011

Read More: Living With Autism, Autistic Children, Autism, Kids With Autism, Children With Autism, Autistic, Autism Stigma, Healthy Living Health News, Healthy Living Mind, Mental Health, Healthy Living News

If I knew nothing about autism, having someone described to me as such might cause me to presume a great many things. Things I would be completely wrong in assuming.

Read Post

Life With Autism: A Snapshot

Ariane Zurcher | Posted 09.14.2011

How we managed to get through those middle-of-the-night-awakenings month after month is something I cannot fathom. The combination of screaming in pain and requests for help -- help I am unable to give -- is what breaks my heart.

Read Post

Decoding The Language Of Autism

Todd Drezner | Posted 09.06.2011

Read More: Living With Autism, Autism, Healthy Living Mind, Language Therapy, Language of Autism, Children With Autism, Healthy Living News

There is a reason that an autistic person rocks, spins or flaps. The problem is that we don't know the reason. So we work to change the external behavior and assume that by doing so, we've changed the internal state. But we can't know for sure.

Read Post