Talking is easy; Real communication is much harder. In my daily communication, I feel like I’m captaining the Titanic, hitting the iceberg and abandoning ship, only to return and raise the sunken boat from the icy, deep ocean with all my emotional strength… again… and again…. Despite my best efforts, I keep making similar mistakes, […]
It came this week: The first disciplinary call from my son’s school. For the first time, JJ has landed in great trouble. Was it inevitable? Possibly. He had dodged this proverbial bullet for years, but this time he couldn’t escape the effects. The incident? My son and his little friend Poppy (whom he will marry) […]
Illustration by Laurène Boglio Hello and welcome to this week’s community newsletter! I am your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, the engagement editor of Spectrum. A new article in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders caused a big stir on Twitter this week. “Rising prevalence, the shift in costs that are dominated from child to […]
Difficulty navigating social interactions permeates even the earliest accounts of autism. This defining characteristic of the disease has influenced the prevailing theories about its roots as well as the design of many autism treatments. But a new work area supports a more nuanced view of the social skills of autistic people. Proponents of an idea […]
I misplace and forget things. In fact, the security guard who works in the supermarket across the street from our house has gotten so used to leaving my phone or bank card at the self-service checkout that I now carry a bag that acts as a “backup”. Brain. I am far less embarrassed about my […]
Illustration by Laurène Boglio Hello and welcome to this week’s community newsletter! I am your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, the engagement editor of Spectrum. This week we start with a thread from Yu-Lun Chen on Autism’s Twitter account. Chen is a PhD student and associate faculty member in Occupational Therapy at New York University in […]
