I'm pretty sure my wife is on the spectrum but she has never been diagnosed. Our 12 year old has been diagnosed about 6 years ago. My wife and I are currently separated. Just wondering if anyone could steer me to some good marriage counseling in the Ohio area that would have expertise in these types of relationships? I really hope to save my marriage and find better ways to make her happy.

http://laughinghelps2.blogspot.com/2013/01/all-thumbs.html

Dear Fellow Parent:

I am looking for two roommates to live with my son in a supported apartment that Independent Residences Incorporated (IRI), with the support of OPWDD, is in the process of developing for kids with High-Functioning Autism or Aspergers who will be aging out of their residential schools in June 2012.  The apartment will be located in Upper Manhattan, hopefully Washington Heights.

Before I met with the IRI staff all I was hearing was that New…

The following post is republished with the permission of Autism Oz Magazine. It will be available on the Apple Newsstand in January 2013.

After every tragic event, we ask the complex question: “Why?” In the attempt to answer this question in the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, CT, many in the media began to focus on unconfirmed reports that the shooter, Adam Lanza, had been diagnosed with Asperger’s…

All,

A slew of articles have emerged rebuffing the earlier attempts to negatively the autism spectrum in the wake of the Newtown horrors. As many of you all no doubt saw, certain media outlets described autism and Asperger's Syndrome as signifying a great potential for violent behavior . . . even though studies show the exact opposite. While TV news gives a lot of charlatan clinicians airtime, it really seemed more the cause of an irresponsible rush to report than to demonize…

Michael your press release was great. Just last week I was Advocating to a Mental Health Committee. They want, or already passed, clumping Asbergers in the Autism Pot. I believe the three most catergories need to be seperate. Asbergers, PDD/NOS, Autism. My greatest concern for the Asbergers is that they will not get recognized or treated because they will slide thru being with high inteligence. All Three are very different. My son, PDD/NOS, lives independently, even owns his own home. Denied…

I put the following on my Facebook status:

Akhil Amar on Up! With Chris Hayes is pushing clarity. There's a core right in the USA to own a gun, in the Bill of RIghts. Moral obscenity panics about mass murderers won't alter that. We have a mental health crisis. When mental health meets desperation, abandonment, and psychopathy, people find guns. Causes are clear. Mental health can be better followed and cared for. The simplest way to deal with this is to give mentally ill…

Sad Day in the U.S. today!

We here at GRASP (and I as the father of two school-age boys), cannot be more saddened and devastated by the news of the shootings in Newtown, CT. Our thoughts, wishes, prayers, and heaviest hearts go out to the victims and their families.

While it has not been confirmed, two major news outlets are now speculating that the shooter, Adam Lanza, had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Much remains to be seen to provide the full picture of who this man was, but AS may…

All:

In what will come as no surprise to those who suspected as much, and according to the attached study from Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl published online 5 December 2012, by Crosland, Clarke and Dunlap . . . research studies have failed to examine the spectrum in its entirety, thus perhaps skewing many of our perceptions.



Huge thanks to research pro and GRASP friend, Dr. Brenda Smith Myles, who comments . . .…

I faxed the following to the house oversight committee.  Thanks, Grasp for explaining how to do it.

Hello, I listened to the committee hearing on autism via CSPAN-3.  I deeply appreciate that attention is being given to autistic people.  I'm an adult with some Aspergers, working.  I've never gone on disability.  Like Michael John Carley, I'm proof that it is possible for us to overcome our deficits by using our strengths.  But it's vital that children with Autism…

All:

Unfortunately, we lost this one. The changes to the proposed criteria for ASD in the new DSM, due out next Spring, were finalized as argued against. 

Things to take heart in:

1. GRASP will be encouraging clinicians to use the new ICD (International classifications of Diseases)…

I am a new member and an older adult. I am interested in any experiences other adults with AS have had in trying to learn a foreign language as an adult. I have encountered great difficulty myself, but am highly motivated to succeed. If you could refer me to any printed or direct human resources on the subject, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,

Joe Berry

The vaccine theory of autism we all know is akin to scientific creationism and crop circles. It was rejected by the main stream scientific community because it did not measure up to peer review by professional researchers. To participate in this process one is required to earn the qualifications to do it properly: years of graduate school courses, closed book doctoral candidacy exams that can take several days to complete, a dissertation that passes publication in an accepted journal,…

First off, I want to thank everyone who wrote or posted messages of thanks and/or congratulations. As those of you who watched the proceedings easily saw . . . nobody was expecting THAT. Wow. Four hours of vaccine-causes-autism theory. I was stunned. We haven't been in conversations like that since 2005. This subject didn't just dominate the proceedings, it monopolized them.

What appears to have happened—which I can explain—is that SafeMinds, a vaccine theory organization,…

I was able to listen to the congressional testimony today.  I thought Ari Nee'man was best, although the Autism Society person was good too.  Michael John Carley needed to force himself to relax alas.  It's a fake skill, but it makes a difference.  I thought Michael expressed that autistic adults were insulted when actually they were ignored (except by Eleanor Holmes Norton).  In addition, Michael followed McGarry, who spoke respectfully about the potential of autistics to graduate from…

http://tiny.cc/mrsahw

I am thrilled that GRASP has been invited to the Thursday, November 29, hearings but I read in the uploaded letter to the Director that he is permitted only five minutes to speak. That does not allow much to be said. And I understand that another big voice in the autism community, Ari Ne'mann, is also invited to speak at the hearings. I also understand that the topics that are supposed to be discussed at this…

Whew...GRASP members WILL be represented, and there will be some (if not all) spectrum representation! Thank you for all your calls that made this happen!…