As we prepare for the 2013 GRASP benefit on Tuesday, May 14 at DCTV on 87 Lafayette Street in New York City, we want to showcase the recipients of our three awards. This is the third of these three posts.  

The 2013 Divine Neurotypical Award (the "DNA"): Dr. Barry M. Prizant  …

As we prepare for the 2013 GRASP benefit on Tuesday, May 14 at DCTV on 87 Lafayette Street in New York City, we want to showcase the recipients of our three awards. This is the second of these three posts.

The 2013 Distinguished Spectrumite Medal (the "DSM"):

Bob Hedin

 …

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…

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…

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…

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

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…

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 . . .…

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)…

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,…

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!…

Dear spectrumite, family member of a spectrumite, or friend of GRASP:

Unlike other organizations, we don’t send out many fundraising appeals. Usually over the course of year, we’ll ask you to participate in our annual benefit, and we’ll ask you to read this fall, pre-holiday letter. GRASP does not charge for membership, nor do we charge admittance to any of our meetings or programs. Everything GRASP does for our members is free.

Why? Because compared to other…

All,

The following images have been generously given to us by EP Magazine. Obviously, we're grateful for the exposure. But we also want to convey what a wonderful publication this is, and has been for 41 years. Their Mission Statement alone is remarkable to us for its directness..."Information that matters from people who care." Especially if you're a relative of someone with ANY special need, we hope you'll check them out by clicking …

(NOTE: The author of this is Michele Montanez, not mjc)

From: Michele Montanez 


Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 5:57 PM


To: Liz Feld, Executive Director, Autism Speaks


Subject: Walmart and cures

Dear Liz,

I had the pleasure of meeting you at the National Conference in Chicago a few weeks ago.  We spoke briefly regarding the continued use of the word cure as part of the Autism Speaks lexicon.  I was fairly emphatic that it…

Please forward and/or re-post to anyone and anywhere you deem appropriate . . .

Understanding the Spectrum of Dysfunction with the DSM-5:

A Report to GRASP’s members

By Michael John Carley

On June 19, 2012, GRASP had a chance to talk with the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Workgroup of the proposed fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5). Higher-ranking Committee members present…