Jul 31
Posted: under Arts and Music.
Jessica Summers, an 18-year-old autistic student who attends the University of Central Arkansas, sang the national anthem at the Cal Ripken Southwest Regional Championship youth baseball tournament at the Maumelle Diamond Complex two weeks ago.
She and her mother enjoy traveling to autism conferences and sharing a positive message.
Jul 17
Posted: under Speaking Out.
A South African autistic activist who goes by the name of “Adi” is working to bring about more representation of autistic people’s views in autism organizations, community events, and public policy discussions in the Western Cape area. She has drawn attention to harmful misrepresentations and negative images associated with fundraising efforts by the charitable group Autism Western Cape, which she points out could have been avoided if autistic people had been consulted during the planning stages.
After seeing a poster that advertised a “Jail4Bail” fundraiser for Autism Western Cape with a photo of a child in a jail cell, she objected strongly to the poster because it created the damaging impression that autistic children were imprisoned by their autism. The poster was changed to show an adult behind bars instead. However, as Adi writes, much more needs to be done to end stigmatizing portrayals of autistic people and to ensure meaningful representation of self-advocates:
“One has to be so careful how autism is portrayed to society. The problems that autistics face today are often more those caused by lack of acceptance and inclusion in society than the actual disabilities. If your hope is to give autistics the freedom of society one day, how can you portray it as a jail?”
Jul 08
Posted: under Academic Success, Growing in Faith.
The New Straits Times reports that 12-year-old autistic student Muhammad Danial Zainuddin “felt like he was on top of the world” on July 5th when, along with over 5,000 other Malaysian students at an indoor stadium, he participated in a recital ceremony known as Khatam al-Quran, in which students receive public recognition for completion of the Quran.
Although he could speak only a few words when he started public school six years ago, his speech and academic performance improved considerably over the years. He became a straight A student, and his headmaster “marvelled at his pupil’s progress.”
