Archives for February 2018

While the history of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) treatment paints a grim picture, long gone are the days of implementing dieting and electroconvulsive shock therapy to “correct” the underlying neurological differences between neurotypical and neurodiverse people. Individuals with ASD were often shunned from society and institutionalized with other mentally and developmentally disabled individuals. However, as […]

Upon hearing the word “autism,” a variety of things may come to mind. You might think of someone you know who has autism, remember a TV show you’ve watched about a character with autism, or think of stereotypes about autism that you commonly hear. These “autism myths,” though sometimes based in a bit of truth, […]

The American government can be pretty silly sometimes. It has built bridges that lead nowhere, funded studies to determine whether the chicken or the egg actually came first, and somehow succeeded in shutting itself down eighteen times in the past forty years. However, every now and then, it manages to get something right. One of […]

People often forget that culture plays a major role in the upbringing of children, particularly those with special needs.  Culture has a direct impact on how a given society handles special education. For example, a commonly recognized trait of autism is a difficulty to make eye contact with others.  Clinical professionals screen for what is […]

The number of students with autism that are enrolling in college is comparatively low. Approximately 0.7 percent to 1.9 percent of the college population consists of autistic students with an incompletion rate of 80%. The question is, why is that and what can high school teachers do to prepare their students for upper-level education? “Understanding Autism: […]