The following is a trailer for Spectrum: A Documentary about Autism and Sensory Perception. This is the documentary I cannot wait to see when it’s finished! It features Nick Walker, Martial Artist, writer of the single best description I’ve ever read answering the question “What is Autism?” and all around amazing guy and Judy Endow, a terrific writer, speaker, talented painter and sculptor and friend. The third person featured is Tito Mukhopadhyay, eloquent poet, writer and son to the woman I am filled with gratitude for on a daily basis, Soma Mukhopadhyay, who taught me how to communicate with my daughter.
This is the first of two blogs you must know about, if you don’t already. How to Talk to a Woman Whose Child is Dead the most recent post on Unstrange Mind. It is so beautifully written by the multi-talented Sparrow Rose Jones, who also sells her fabulous art work in the form of t-shirts, stickers, hoodies. Click this link Red Bubble to see and purchase Sparrow’s wonderful art work.
The second blog, We Are Like Your Child, is one I’ve been following since it was created. It’s a group blog with a variety of people, mostly Autistic, who write about a wide range of topics. A Checklist For Identifying Sources of Aggression is a great bullet point checklist everyone should read and Meltdown, Night Blooming Flowers: Sudden Skill Acquisition and Extreme Context Dependence, Teaching Us to be Silent, and Please Don’t Rush Me are other examples of the kinds of posts you’ll find.
And finally I’m going to end by sharing again a video of the presentation Emma and I gave at CoNGO affiliated with the UN a month ago on World Autism Awareness Day, now captioned thanks to the beautiful and talented, Savannah Nicole Logsdon-Breakstone. Thank you again Savannah!
Emma's Hope Book 
🙂
Reblogged this on Design for Autistics.
oh. oh. the video. speechless.
I want to see more.
Thank you.
I’ve read most of the stuff you suggested. Video still amazes me, but I bet there are still skeptics. I taught a child with severe cerebral palsy that made it impossible to talk, walk, or even point. She still has no communication board. BUT, I gave her a test and had her “slap down” the answers. Out of 100, she got 2 wrong. I can still tell you what they were, 7 years ago. It gave her at least a third grade educational level. She has had nothing but preschool teaching, but I believe she can read. (But she is also low vision, nearly blind.—cerebral palsy really taketh away…)
I thought I made it up, I thought maybe I somehow gave her clues to the answer (clever Hans). Why do we doubt our children?
My son is disabled by autism, but not much, in comparison to the difficulties others have. Still, I hate the things I did “for him” when he was younger, and like you will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to him. Still, as forgiving as our children are, there is a good reason they went through it. So we, as parents, can try to warn others.
Thank you.
Love the video. You are very bright Emma.