People believe that the puzzle piece that symbolizes Autism doesn’t represent the condition at all because the puzzle piece makes it look like someone who is on the spectrum is “missing” a piece, makes them look like their “incomplete” or that their a “puzzle that needs to be solved. There have been times in history that organizations have tried to “cure” autism by changing the way someone is behaving, by turning something “negative” into a “positive.” Instead of embracing so

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season. Wishing you all good things in 2026.

Social anxiety is hard at any time of the year, but the holidays make it worse since there is a lot going on. Some people thrive on being busy and doing a million things at once, but there are other people who tend to freeze when it comes to just stepping into a store on Christmas eve. Christmas is crazy and intense and if you are someone who struggles anxiety, it can seem like the holidays will never end. You have to try and make the best of it and know that it’s going to pa

My birthday message for Lou Ferrigno Jr.

Bullying for anyone is hard, but it’s especially when the person that is getting bullied is different from their peers and classmates. It makes for an easy targets for bullies. As much as kids are more open to other kids to being different, they may not get treated that fairly at home which makes them act out at school. They may use their anger towards others. They don’t know that it’s wrong. When someone is different and doesn’t understand certain things like emotions and fa

When it comes to autism, there are so many things that go inside our heads. We have so many ideas and so many things we want to do and...

Self-determination refers to the ability or power of a person or group to make their own decisions and choices, especially regarding their own future and governance, without external coercion or control.  Being able to be self-determine, you have to be able to choose what you want and need for yourself, being able to not feel influenced by other people in making your own decisions and to be the driver of your life and not be the passenger.  Being able to control your life and

Grief is different for everyone. People express themselves in different ways. Some people will remain quiet and other people want to talk about it. It’s their way of going through the motions of the grieving process. When you have autism, showing emotion is a challenge. Just because we don’t show or share what we’re feeling, it doesn’t mean we’re not grieving. We have our own way of expressing ourselves. We have our own coping strategy. There are going to be times where someo

When I was a kid, my brother and I were besties. I couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything or go anywhere without him. I couldn’t be away from him. In the early days of elementary school, if I didn’t see him on the playground at recess and lunch, I would get anxious and I would start to panic. I would start to tear up and race around the school yard until I saw him. I needed to see him to prove that he didn’t leave me alone. The first instance of separation anxiety was when I was ki

When it comes to socializing, it’s a challenge with someone with autism. We try and make friends, we want to make friends, but we don’t know how to approach people. We don’t know when it’s a good time to go up to someone and talk to them. When we do get the chance, we don’t know what to say or how to say it. We don’t know if the person we’re talking to is listening just to be nice or they feel like they have to listen because they know its rude to walk away. We feel like non-