Happy Autistic Pride Day to all my fellow Autistic people across the world! You are not broken, you are amazing!  Today is the day to celebrate our Autistic differences, embrace them! 

In praise of disability activism.

Many of us in the disability community take part in some sort of activism whether it be solely online or in-person or a combination of the two.  I applaud all of our efforts.  It really comes down to our level of comfort dealing with people en masse, a.k.a. the number of spoons we have available to us on any given day.  Many of us have comorbidities that impact our choices for activism, but that does not mean that the choice we make to take part and express ourselves should be deemed any less important than others are.  I for one feel more at home online and have been known to take part in many different protests via twitter and blog posts over the years.  Online activists/protesters do not have to hear verbal shouts of derision or face any form of physical violence in-person, that is not to say that one does not encounter violence of another sort where people feel more free to show disdain and spout vile hateful ableist rhetoric online, whatever comes into their minds all the while cowardly hiding behind the safety of their computer screens. Cyber-bullying is just as invasive and in many cases even more so than in-person bullying because when one is home and alone one can still be targeted and harassed no matter the distance away the “attacker” is in the physical world. Such attacks cause just as much PTSD as their in-person physical ones, but in many cases the pain and harm they cause is even deeper.  I do not like to invite such attacks so do not engage with individuals one on one online as others in my community to do on a regular basis, I could not take the self-hate and internalized ableism that would be a result of such attacks from awful people trolling the net for the sole purpose of creating havoc and leaving harm in their wake. Face it people many of these perpetrators spew their vitriol for their sheer entertainment and when we take the bait we are playing right into their hands. 

I in turn use general political, etc. hashtags and take part in #cripthevote or just speak my mind in my own personal twitter and also sign online petitions.  Those who do not engage others in-person but find it makes it easier to express yourselves online do not think that this diminishes the value of your activism; we too are fighting to make the world a better place for disabled people.  I applaud Autistics who do engage one on one ,on a regular basis, you are brave beyond any measure I can express because time and time again you go to battle with these trolls, lick your virtual wounds and there you are again back in the fray fighting another day.  Many of those who do go toe to toe with such hateful trolls find strength in the community and the fact that we do support their efforts knowing full well our own limitations and lack of spoons to do it ourselves, but as they say someone has too.  I applaud the TRUE Autistic warriors taking on non-Autistic trolls online who only like to bait and taunt us for their own enjoyment and care nothing of learning the truth about what life is like for #ActuallyAutistic people.  I thank you for your fighting.  Stand strong against adversity, with every demon vanquished another arrives in your path, let them not get you down, keep fighting, but also remember to look out for number 1 as they say, safe-care and knowing ones limits is paramount.  Also do not forget to ask for help and advice when you need it, others may be able to shoulder some of the burden when you are out of spoons. Don’t let anyone diminish your efforts with hate-speech. Fight the good fight.

In solidarity. 

A Happy Autistic Pride Day to one and all!

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Autistic Pride Day, which was first celebrated by the British Autistic rights group Aspies for Freedom.

An Open Letter About Autism Acceptance to Pope Francis from Amy Sequenzia

January 12, 2015, by Autistic activist Amy Sequenzia, posted on the Autism Women’s Network site 

Dear Pope Francis: 

I think I am supposed to call you “Your Holiness”. I am here to teach you some important things about Autism, about being Autistic, and about Autism Speaks. 

You recently met with Suzanne Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks, and your lack of understanding about my neurology and about who I am makes it look like you don’t care about social justice. 

Yes, I am Autistic, Disabled and proud. 

I don’t want pity. 

I don’t need Ms. Wright’s hateful words. 

Autism Speaks does not speak for me. 

I will use her speech to teach you and show why cure and prevention of Autism go against my human rights. 

I will “translate” the speech, I will tell you the real meaning of Suzanne Wright’s words. 

First, you need to know what Autism Speaks really stands for: hate. 

Autism Speaks raises money by demonizing people like me, and by martyring parents, as if parenting Autistics is a burden, and a tragic living. 

Autism Speaks also ignores Autistic adults, people like me, very disabled and very proud of my neurology. 

Now, the speech. 

Suzanne Wright starts by saying Autism is a health crisis. 

Wrong. We are not diseased or Disordered. Autism is our identity, like the color of our skin. Is there a “black people health crisis”? An “Asian health crisis”? I think you get my point. 

She says that “Autism families” suffer. She can’t even use the correct words. Autism families are only a thing if all the members are Autistic. 

The only suffering comes through her hateful rhetoric and stigmatization. 

What she really meant was that in her distorted view of Autism, all Autistics cause suffering to non-Autistic family members. See how she does not see us as sentient beings? 

Then she talks about how everyone is tired of us, the extreme work for no reward. She does not sound too concerned with her faith. Doesn’t the Catholic Church teach that heaven is for the poor and humble? 

She mentions the lack of information about Autism, purposefully leaving out how Autism Speaks, under her guidance, misinforms the public. 

She briefly mentions her grandson, trying to paint him as pitiful. Well, I am an adult with a lot of needs and my friends say I am pretty awesome. 

Suzanne Wright not only diminishes Autistic people’s experiences of the world, she also shows her ableism toward people who have Hansen’s disease, referring to them as lepers. 

To her, we are to be viewed as undesirable, unapproachable, not to be touched, while our parents are saints, doing (according to her) the ultimate act of love a parent of an Autistic person can do: look at us. 

This is a very messed up statement, from a supposedly loving grandmother. 

To Suzanne Wright, Autistic people do not deserve appreciation or respect for just being. We are only to be valued if we can be, act and look “less Autistic”. 

Then, she calls us not human enough. She states that we don’t learn, worry, rejoice, live. She decided that our dreams and wishes are unimportant and not worthy of anyone’s attention. 

What Suzanne Wright says her organization does is simply a lie. The truth is that Autism Speaks uses only 3% of the donations it receives to help Autistics and their families. Autistics adults are not even considered by the organization. Most of the money raised is to enrich executives and to find a genetic marker, with this objective: selective abortions. And she brought St. Francis to the conversation. How can the Catholic Church reconcile it’s rejection of abortion, yet allow a speech from someone whose mission in life is to find a way to, through selective abortion, make sure people like me do not exist? 

The isolation, harassment, shame and disgrace she mentions should be spelled out as the mission statement of her organization, since that’s what Autism Speaks engages on with full force. 

The blue light she talks about? It magically turns into green dollars, used in propaganda that demonizes us, martyrs our families, and ignores our voices. Propaganda like her speech to you. 

The lies about how she really feels about us don’t change the reality of what her organization promotes: her “village” is not welcoming to, or safe for us, Autistics who just want to be, to exist. 

Suzanne Wright lacks humbleness. She believes that she is on a mission to rid the world of Autism, of Autistics. She does not listen to the many Autistics saying that our lives are worthy, that she is wrong and hurtful. But her goal of portraying Autism as a devastating disease, of portraying Autistics as less than useless human beings, is advanced by her savvy marketing skills. She uses fear to spread hate – packaged as compassion – and she uses her wealth to gain access. 

She gained access to you, dear Pope Francis. 

She spread her lies, disguised as a call to love.

You now know the truth, easily confirmed by how she directs her organization. 

I am Autistic, Disabled and proud. 

I know what Autism is. 

Your Holiness, are you going to silence me? Are you going to deny my wholeness, my perfect humanity, as imperfect as all humans are, still deserving of a life free from hateful attacks? 

Suzanne Wright has an agenda and it goes against my right to exist.

What are you going to do in support of my right to be, just as I am? 

What are you going to do about all Autistics right to exist, just like we are? 

Happy New Year!

2015 is fresh and new, let this be the year you welcome an Autistic person of any age into your circle of friends, we have much to offer and should be given a chance to share our unique view of the world with you.  Take some time to get to know us, we may just surprise you.  Let 2015 be a year of Acceptance!

Happy New Year from the Autism Acceptance Digest!

 

 

Urgent Appeal for Action to Save an Autistic Adult!

 

JUSTICE FOR NELI!!

 

 

Neli Latson an Autistic adult who has been wasting away in jail for the past 4 years, he is in Solitary Confinement, all because he was waiting outside a library until it opened a few short years ago and was approached by police and then attacked one due to his Autism, he was scared and the flight or fight instinct kicks in, we should not be punished for being Autistic.  Being Autistic is NOT a crime!  Police are not as versed in how to interact with us as much as you might think.  This is an example of justice that needs to be served.  Please appeal to the Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe to release one of my community.  Being Autistic is not a crime and should not be treated as such.  He is scared and confused and does not deserve such treatment.  Let’s flood the governor’s office with appeals for justice for Neli he is languishing in prison.  #FreeNeli!  #JusticeforNeli!  Please help to stop this cruelty!   

Please telephone Governor Terry McAuliffe’s office at: (804) 786-2211  Or write to his postal address: 1111 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219  Or email him using the following form: https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/Communicating-with-the-governors-office

 

JUSTICE FOR NELI!!

 

********************************************

Ruth Marcus: In Virginia, a cruel and unusual punishment for Autism

November 14, 2014, by Ruth Marcus, Washington Post – Opinions  

 

Reginald Latson’s path to solitary confinement began four years ago as he waited for the public library to open in Stafford County, Va.  

Latson, known as Neli, has an IQ of 69 and is Autistic. Teachers and therapists describe him as generally sweet and eager to please.  

He is also a black man, now 22, who on the day in question was wearing a hoodie — which prompted a concerned citizen to call police about a suspicious person loitering outside the library. 

The ensuing encounter should have been nothing more than a harassing annoyance. Instead, not surprising given the rigid thinking and “fight or flight” instincts characteristic of those with Autism, it escalated after Latson refused to provide his name and was restrained by the police officer when he tried to leave.  

The altercation that followed left the officer seriously injured and propelled Latson into an inescapable cycle of misbehavior followed by ever more punishment. Latson has engaged in acts that can be characterized as criminal, yet he is less a criminal than a victim of his disability.  

Meanwhile, he is being punished in the most severe manner the criminal justice system can concoct. He has spent most of the last year in solitary confinement and has lost almost 50 pounds from an already trim frame. 

“In effect Neli spends 24 hours a day locked in a segregation cell with minimal human contact for the ‘crime’ of being Autistic,” his lawyers wrote to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). “Absent intervention, there is every reason to think he will remain there until the opportunity for effective treatment has been lost.” 

Solitary confinement can be torture, with serious psychological consequences. For those already suffering from disabilities, the impact can be far more devastating. So it has been for Latson — an especially tragic outcome, given that state mental health officials had arranged, and secured federal funding, for him to be transferred to a locked treatment facility in Florida.  

Because of Latson’s intellectual and emotional disabilities, he cannot safely go into the general jail population. But he also does not have the coping skills to deal with solitary confinement. 

Held in solitary after his initial arrest, Latson responded by urinating on the floor and then licking it up. Moved last spring, after threatening suicide, from regular solitary to a “crisis cell” consisting of an empty concrete room with no bed and a hole in the floor for a toilet, he was Tasered after hitting a guard, leading to another assault charge.  

Maureen Del Duca, a lawyer with two adult sons who are severely Autistic, described Latson’s situation as a “never-ending downward spiral of completely avoidable charges of criminal assault.” When one of her sons lived at the Florida facility that agreed to take Latson, the young man’s violent actions — biting or attacking staff members — were a routine behavior to be handled, not a criminal infraction, she noted.

 

He “could easily be in Reginald’s position . . . tragically entangled in a criminal justice system that is not yet able to deal appropriately” with him, Del Duca wrote to the judge hearing Latson’s case.  

 

The differences between the two men are as obvious as they are jarring: race, for one; resources, for another. 

 

Latson’s case is an individual tragedy that cries out for remedy — Gov. McAuliffe, are you listening? It is also sadly representative of a criminal justice system poorly equipped to deal with issues of mental illness and developmental disability. 

It is maddening for Latson to be trapped in solitary confinement when a safe, therapeutic alternative is available; indeed, that neglect may violate Virginia’s commitments in settling a Justice Department civil rights lawsuit on behalf of those with developmental disabilities. McAuliffe should employ his authority to ensure Latson’s transfer to the Florida facility, where the public would be safe and he would receive treatment, not futile punishment. 

 

“It verges on bizarre to instead lock Neli in an isolation cell at substantial taxpayer expense with the medical certainty that he will eventually emerge worse instead of better,” his lawyers told McAuliffe. 

Latson’s is a sad case. Unfortunately, it is not an isolated one. The criminal justice system must rethink how it deals with the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. And it must do more than rethink — it must halt — the use of solitary confinement in all but the most extreme circumstances.

 

#FREENELI!!

 

Let’s all turn fear into Acceptance.

At this time of year there is much talk of fear and being scared.  People seem to go out of their way to enjoy being scared by monsters from witches to vampires to zombies, but the rest of the year we Autistics are the ones who are feared.  Watching scary movies and going to haunted houses are done for the fun of it, but the fear of us is not.  No one gets any enjoyment from that sort of fear, neither us nor you, especially us.  Autistics are not monsters; we too are people and deserve to be treated as such. 

Time and time again the media has helped to add to the fear of Autistics by siding with murderous parents, misrepresenting Autism, leaving out Autistic perspectives/voices, etc.  With every new study and article that does not embrace the gifts of Autism, but only dwells on its negatives, in full Technicolor, more fiendish falsehoods are added to the arsenal of hate. 

We are not monsters.

Fear breeds more fear, confusion, and misunderstanding.  Since the dawn of humankind man has feared what he truly does not understand. 

Don’t you think that it is time to set aside your fear and hatred, jettison your ignorance, and take the time to understand us on our terms?  Push back the dark veil of dread and let the full Spectrum enter the world.  We have much to share, verbal or nonverbal, and deserve to be given the chance to do so.  From understanding comes Acceptance and Acceptance will make a better world.  Let’s all turn fear into Acceptance.  We are not monsters, let us show you today.

Happy Halloween from the Autism Acceptance Digest!

Rally for Ratification of the CRPD!

On Tuesday July 29th there will be a rally in support for ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD (A.K.A. the “Disability Treaty”) in Washington, D.C.

People will gather at 12:15 pm on Tuesday, July 29th on 3rd Street NW between Pennsylvania Avenue NW and Maryland Avenue SW. 

Also, do not forget to telephone your Senators to urge them to ratify the CRPD if you have not already.  (202) 224-3121

To learn more about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities please click on the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRPD

Autism Acceptance Attacked, but NOT Defeated!

As you know in November of 2011 my board voted unanimously to call April in Northern Virginia Autism Acceptance Month at my suggestion, awareness is not enough. 

For our first celebration in April 2012 I made a sign for my front yard that stated “April is Autism Acceptance Month”, I decorated it with flowers, waterproofed it, taped it to an old yard sign and placed it in a flowerbed facing the street, every year since then it has spent the whole of April cheerily sharing my message with passersby that was until last evening. 

I was headed out to church when I noticed it lying on the front walk sans yard sign, I assumed that it had somehow come unstuck, the best case scenario I could dream up knowing full well I had made sure to tape it securely with duct tape to the yard sign.  After closer investigation I discovered that it had been cut off the yard sign and then tossed onto our front walk.  The covering had been slashed.  Fortunately the sign within had not been damaged.  I was angered and close to having a meltdown.  I quickly gathered it up and ran back into my house, I was fuming.  I showed it to my mother who was surprised that the sign had been attacked, but fortunately my mother knew the right thing to say to keep me from fully melting down, so off to church I went.

While I was at church she had been looking at the sign and noticed that the lettering had started to fade due to two Aprils worth of sunlight, she therefore suggested that I should touch up the letters and make it better than it was.  I in turn told her that I had concluded during church that the individual who had committed the act did not know what Acceptance was and that I would put my sign up again, showing the world that Acceptance cannot be so easily defeated.  It is now freshly re-erected.

I am Autistic and Proud and no one can take that away from me!

No Time Like the Present

“(Right now) Hey! It's your tomorrow. (Right now) Come on, it's everything. (Right now) Catch that magic moment. And do it right here and now. It means everything.” - Right Now by Van Halen – song excerpt

I have started this post with an excerpt from Van Halen’s song titled Right Now due to the fact that it is up to us to change this world for the better and make a world of Acceptance instead of one of fear and hate. 

Once again it is the start of Autism Acceptance Month here in Northern Virginia, our 3rd celebration thanks to my urging in 2011, this time right on the heels of the CDC’s latest statistical release which will of course add tinder to the fire for the supposed “Autism crisis”, we are now 1 in 68.  The masses have already begun to sound the outcry.  There is no crisis, there never was, people are confusing access with crisis, we have always been here, it is just that people are having more access to information sharing and access to diagnosticians, etc.  The internet has played a big part in this exchange for example.  There is no reason for hysteria that leads to the proverbial men wielding torches trying to run all us out of town, very much like what was depicted in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. 

We are not monsters to be feared or to be used for exploitation so that a major Autism “charity” can make more money for their inflated salaries, etc.  We are individuals who are all unique and deserve respect and love. 

The propaganda machine at Autism Speaks churns out misinformation and lies like butter and the unsuspecting masses “eat it up with a spoon” never realizing that they are buying into hate and ignorance instead of working toward Acceptance and understanding.  On April 2^nd they held their annual Light It Up Blue campaign, just one such rallying scheme that Aut$peaks has dreamed up.  They coaxed people all over the world to take part in the “exciting” blue puzzle wave, from Antarctica to Sydney to New York to you name it people turned on blue lights.  The masses joined in without realizing that they too were a part of the problem and aided in spreading hate. 

Autism Speaks is a scary Autism “charity” in that they make you think they are doing something helpful, but in reality only 3% of money raised actually goes to services for us, there are no Autistics on their board, their executives have 6-figure salaries, etc., etc.  They exploit Autistics to fill their coffers from pity fund-raising to you name it and have even been known to steal and use Autistics’ words for their own nefarious purposes.  I will not go on about them, you can find many sites on the web that decry them, have a look and you too will understand why I will never jump on the Light It Up Blue bandwagon. 

Hate and fear do not move things forward they keep things where there are, stagnant, building a wall around positive thought, barring the world from the light of reason and inspiration, in many cases it turns the cycle in reverse.

What is needed is real Acceptance for Autistics, in our families, in our communities, in our schools, and in our workplaces, etc.  From understanding us on our terms, as in actually taking the time to listen to us, even if we are nonverbal, the true seeds of Acceptance will be sown and encouraged to grow, fostering new generations to recognize and Accept the many talents and differences of those who make up humanity. 

We need to work toward Acceptance for all Autistics, ourselves, our children, our family members, our friends, colleagues, etc.  Acceptance starts with you, it is up to you to move away from “cures”, “fixes”, “trying to be normal”, etc., encouraging others to do so as well and move toward a world where differences are just another part of what makes us human.  Autism is a Spectrum; learn to embrace its many hues of brilliant color. 

Even Bob Marley has something that will inspire you to action with an excerpt from his song titled Get Up, Stand Up: “Hey, get up, stand up, stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight. Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight”.  It is when we quit trying, fighting, and standing up for what we truly believe in: our Autistic Rights, the rights of your Autistic children, etc., that we become complacent and lose a bit of ourselves more and more each day. 

We are fighting for such things as the right to not be bullied (not at school, online, at work, at the store or anywhere for that matter) for just being and acting as our Autistic selves – stimming, rocking, etc.; the right to get accommodations that help us; the right to have a voice in the conversation about us and not to be excluded from it; etc., etc.  If you want to make the right world filled with Autism Acceptance you have to work and fight for it.  Talk to everyone you know, even people who do not agree with you, explain your case for Acceptance, you will run into naysayers and it may dishearten you, but do not give up, keep trying, in time those naysayers will understand your message and join the cause.  Acceptance benefits all, not just we Autistics.  We can make a better world for all Autistics.  This is something worth fighting for and to claim for future generations, what we do now will effect the world they will live in and do we not want to give them something better than what we have, my answer and yours should as well be a resounding YES! 

Please remember that Autism Acceptance is so much more than you accepting your Autistic diagnosis or your child’s, it is about society as a whole accepting Autistics for who we are, verbal or nonverbal, stims and all.

So go forth during this Autism Acceptance Month and every month hereafter spreading the word about Acceptance, do your part!  To echo Bob Marley and Van Halen respectively, “Hey, get up, stand up, stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight” and “Catch that magic moment and do it right here and now. It means everything.”  Every movement starts with a spark, now is your chance to be that spark! 

There is no time like the present to make a better world! 

As ever, I hope that you and your families have a good Autism Acceptance Month!  :)

Smile BIG

They say it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile.  This simple idea can be related to the following concept. 

It takes more of your energy to hate and work toward “combatting” something that is a central part of what makes me, me, than is does to accept me as I am.  Helping people is easier than working to get rid of us.  What we Autistics really need is access to services and supports not more work done to try and eradicate us or make us just like you, under the guise of “research”.  We are part of the human fabric and always have been, therefore always will be.  Why fear and hate us when all you need to do is help and encourage us to be the best we can be, we should be given the supports to do so.  We have just as much right as anyone else to be the best we can be.  Too much focus has been on Autistic children, “the epidemic”, and “the upcoming onslaught of Autistic adults”…ummm what about we Autistics adults who are already here and struggling, we deserve to have better lives too.  I am an out Autistic adult, well beyond 22 years of age, past “the transition age” as the would-be allies keep trying to address, but what about those of us after 22?  Do Autistic adults just vanish after they turn 22 years of age because we are no longer in schools and therefore not in the statistics?  Of course we do not disappear, we are still here, we are just as human as you are, we live on and struggle more so than you ever will due to a lack of access to much needed supports, services, etc.  Supports and services for all Autistics are essential for us to be contributing members of society and to be fully integrated.  All Autistics verbal or nonverbal deserve a chance to thrive. 

Why spend more time frowning, in the case of the Combatting Autism Act fighting us and our Autism, instead use your energy and resources to embrace our differences and work with us on our terms to help us to reach our full potentials.  Revise the CAA to incorporate the voices and needs of Autistic people, the very people it should be helping, otherwise get rid of it.

Do something positive and smile, help us.  The bigger the smile the more happy people it will reach and isn't that what helping others does, for you and for me!  :) 

Final thoughts for 2013.

On this the last day of 2013 thoughts usually turn to tasks not accomplished and new memories made.  Instead of bringing those to mind I wish to instead bring to your thoughts and therefore minds to the fact that more Autistics, children and adults, were murdered at the hands of their caregivers and parents this year.  A number of Autistic bloggers and allies have listed them already, I have mentioned a few over the course of the year, I shan’t do that now, if you wish to learn the victims’ names and personally memorialize them in your own way, you need only do a web search and they will appear.  I hope that by bringing this topic to the foreground that you will make a pledge to work even harder in 2014 toward the goal of Autism Acceptance so that atrocities such as these and numerous others perpetrated on the Autistic Community do not continue in the next year, that 2013 is the last year that innocent Autistics will die at the hands of those who were meant to protect them. 

 

 

My hope is that those of you who are still searching for how to “fix” or “cure” your Autistic selves or your Autistic loved ones will turn away from finding “fixes” and “cures” for Autistic differences and instead embrace them as a natural part of the human fabric, in time we as a society and as a world will truly welcome Autistics.  We do not need to search from without for change, what is needed is a search within ourselves, this will lead to a place of Acceptance that we can share with those around us, no Autistic will then be set apart living out their lives in institutions, afraid to be their true Autistic selves for fear of reprisals, etc., etc.  To make a future world where the rocking or hand-flapping of an Autistic adult won’t seem out of place or odd, but rather common place, where Autistic adults will not be seen as crazy or as a nuisance but as a contributing part of society, whether we be verbal or nonverbal, but to instead be given a chance to express ourselves in any way that works for us and not be made to conform to any outward standard.  We are not burdens, we are not “broken” or “damaged”, for good or ill we are just what we are meant to be and our community is growing bigger every day and that is exciting!  To know that I am not alone, but instead part of a greater community is a terrific feeling!

 

 

We as a society need to work together in order for there to be Acceptance of Autistics of all ages, not just one group or one person can make this come about; instead we must work together toward this common goal.  This is an important and great goal. 

Make 2014 the year that you in your own part of the world, your country, your neighborhood, or even within your family or group of friends make the Acceptance of Autistics a top priority and a pledge to not support groups, people, etc. who do not support Autistics.  The phrase “If you have met one Autistic, you have met one Autistic” comes to mind, we are all unique and all have something to offer to the world from a brilliant discovery to a smile, we just need to be given the chance to do it.
 

Make 2014 the year for Acceptance!

Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2014 

from the Autism Acceptance Digest.