By Dr. Stephen Shore — Boom! The autism bomb hits the mark, spreading shrapnel throughout the lives of the individual on the autism spectrum, their immediate and extended families, friends, the community, and all involved in supporting people with autism.…

By Robert Naseef, Ph.D. — There are times when I still wonder who my son might have been, without the autism, and who might I have been as well. Sometimes when I see a father with a little boy, it seems like only yesterday when Tariq was that age. Yet it is…

By Joanne Lara, MA — A definition is just that, a definition, a technical term for an idea or article. In this case, the definition of autism is defined by the Autism Society of America (ASA)as “a complex developmental disability that typically appears during…

By Ann S. Roberts, PhD — The Human Spectrum and the Autism Spectrum – what is the difference? Here at our school we don’t make such distinctions as we go about our daily life and work. Our school is called the Boston Higashi School and it is based on the…

By Lea M. Hill — In a recent edition of The Los Angeles Huffington Post, a young boy named Jacob Artson had been mis-labeled as mentally retarded for the first seven years of his life. The article touts a “miracle” when the nonverbal Jacob suddenly…

By Debra Hosseini — The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place. —Barbara DeAngelis In this first edition of the Human Spectrum Magazine, I’d like to introduce myself as a female on the…

By Principal Deb Donovan — Once upon a time there was a Kindergarten teacher in Japan who met a boy who was different. This boy did not have a rhythm of life. He was up running around at night when he should have been sleeping. He did not eat a well balanced…

By Brian R. King LCSW — I had the privilege of being involved in a dialogue yesterday that centered around the question, “Do you use Autistic Person or Person with Autism to describe yourself?” This refers to what many people in the special needs community…

By John Scott Holman — I don’t get it. You got the Asperger’s and now everyone has it. Why is everyone talking about autism? My younger brother isn’t exactly fluent in the politically correct vernacular of the autism community, which is why I found his…

By Sean Swindler, M.S.Ed. — I come to Autism from a different path than many, having worked first with adults with developmental disabilities, at the state level in disability policy, and then as a special education advocate and Case Manager for children with…