The chat room discussion group which meets Monday and Thursday,  in the chat room has changed the start time to allow for some time differences, due to the shift to daylight savings time.

We will continue to meet every Monday and Thursday, but now at the new times of 9 P.M. EST/  8 P.M. CST/  7 P.M. MST/  and 6 P.M. PST. This will be effective as of this Monday, March 18.

The discussion group is a loosely organized group of members who found that by setting a time to meet it…

As we prepare for the 2013 GRASP benefit on Tuesday, May 14, we want to showcase the recipients of our three awards. This is the first of these three posts.

The 2013 Friend and Benefactor Award (the "FAB"):

Andrew Solomon

Listed by many…

Okay, now that I have an official diagnosis, why is it taking so long to form a constructive response, a clear definition, or a reasonable expectation?  "Every case is different"--I've heard that so many times by now that its unavoidable truth no longer satisfies me.  While I have found a person or two who appears to be supportive of constructive resolution of my challenges, the general demand in this area is astonishingly large, resulting in answers such as "Considering all of the other…

Dear Members, Families, Friends, and Fellow Spectrumites,

            I am so excited to be writing this letter to you today as the new Executive Director of GRASP.  As the facilitator of the Hudson Valley support group chapter, I have had the privilege of working closely with Michael John, the Board, and the members of this wonderful organization.  I have been a witness to and a participant in the great work that we do to spread the word of our mission:  which is to improve…

Dear spectrumites, families, friends, and colleagues,

As you have heard, I will be stepping down as the Executive Director of GRASP and shifting into a role of "Founder," while retaining a Board seat. In this new position I will continue to act as a spokesperson (media and otherwise) for GRASP, but will no longer run our day-to-day operations. 

In essence, and with your support, we accomplished everything we set out to do in 2003 when we started GRASP. And in…

 I would like to start a group in Forth worth  Texas .  I down loaded your brochure and have been showing it  around and there seems to be some interest . I also talked to a pastor at church he is also interested. so how do i proceed

I moved to Boston start of January and began a new job.  Yay, it's going well!  I got a chance to work at what I'm good at and did a lot there.  Exhausted --- but the results were good and I'm getting recognized for it.  People are asking me about the details, and they're learning from what I found.  I finally, a month and a half in, feel like it's been a good start now.  I work in software for an online web-only retailer of home goods.  A negative point is that to do all this work, I've had…

Well, it's getting close to a month since I was officially diagnosed with high-functioning autism and in some ways I don't feel much closer to any sort of clear understanding of this.  I have made a number of contacts and have a number of potentially empowering meetings with individuals of various non-profit organizations scheduled for early March, but if a potential employer were to ask me today, "What accommodations do you need, to be a valuable member of our team?" I'm not sure I would be…

To recap a rough few months . . . 

1. In the fall, GRASP had the displeasure of having to dispute, on a webTV show, that Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) was a “fad.”

2. In that same season, we participated in the first-ever Congressional hearings on autism—unaware of how skillfully…

The Monday night discussion group, which meets in the Main Chat Room, has been well attended, and we have  had both lively, and caring discussion.

We decided to run the discussion group Thursdays as well, and so will be meeting this Thursday, Feb. 14, at 8:30 P.M. EST/ 7:30 P.M. CST/ 6:30 P.M.  MST/ and 5:30 P.M. PST.

A few of us…

Hi everyone,

I am an autistic adult looking for other autistic adults to participate in an autism research study at Caltech. The study is on visual perception and involves eye-tracking. I participated as a research subject last year. In the future, I will be working in this field of research, so I am hoping that some of you in SoCal are interested in participating in this study.

Here is a flyer about the study:…

It’s February. Winter is in full swing, and storms are wreaking their havoc. Those who want spring and warm weather will have to content themselves to wait a little while, while those who love snow and cold can take heart that they will be able to enjoy winter activities for a bit longer. Those GRASP members in the southern hemisphere who are in the midst of summer will know that winter is coming to them, too.

No matter what the Pennsylvania Groundhog says, and whether winter will…

Well, it's official:  I am now a person with a "disability" and that has specifically been named as High-functioning Autism.  In some ways, I'm still trying to figure out what this means.  At the very least, it seems to finally explain virtually all of the social/interpersonal problems I've had throughout my life.  While in the past I was subjected to almost constant accusations of "just being difficult" or "not trying hard enough," however, it appears that this official diagnosis will…

Click here to listen to the story. Our segment is between timings 19:16 and 26:12.

Some members of GRASP, have discovered that it is not always easy to visit in the chat room, as we are not always "there", at the same time.

We will be meeting this Monday, Feb. 4, in the online main chat room at 9P.M. EST/ 8P.M. CST/ 7P.M. MST/ and 6P.M. PST.

This may be interesting to new members (like myself), people who are seeking diagnosis, some adults who may think that they are somewhere on the spectrum, people who do not have access to a support group…

I am a new member to this website, and have been enjoying meeting others through the chat room.

I find it wonderful to have the opportunity to visit with interesting people, through this medium.

Denver N. recently pointed out that it seems people are not always able to connect due to signing in at differing times of the day.

I am just wondering if it might be interesting to set an informal visit time perhaps once a week, and try to meet and chat as a group. This might…