cross-posted at The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism.
My main volunteer activity this year was working on The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, the blog and the book.
We published 189 posts from 114 authors, many new to Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. The complete list is below the fold.
We branched out. I started to categorize the blog posts using the section headings from the book, and realized a lot of the posts didn't exactly fit. We published a lot more posts by autistics, and more on adult issues in autism. Advocacy wasn't a heading in the book, but was a big subject this year, and into the future. Technology and research were also covered with more posts than in previous years.
Thinking Person's Guide to Autism went to, and reported on, conferences: the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), the International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Hacking Autism's App Hackathon, UCSF's Developmental Disabilities Conference, and BlogHer. In terms of virtual events, we observed Autism Awareness Month by posting daily, and promoted and reported on Autistics Speaking Day.
In 2011, our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/thinkingpersonsguidetoautism) developed a lively community of its own. We use it not just to publicize posts here, also but to put up short articles and links of interest to the community.
There were two big events here: One was the Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, which began on September 19 and ran until September 30. About these conversations, TPGA editor, self-advocate, and autism parent Carol Greenburg wrote:
The thing about conflict resolution is that it requires conflict, which is messy, no matter how sensitively it's handled. Just because it's inevitable doesn't mean it's not annoying. In fact, in my experience, speaking as an individual unable to fully represent any community of any kind, the more annoying the task, the more important it is.
Editor Shannon Rosa wrote:
This has been, and will continue to be, an imperfect process. It will continue to be hard work. It will also require a lot of tolerance for the mess and the imperfection, and eyes on the larger prizes of dialogue and constructive conversations.The other big event was the long-awaited release of our book, The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, followed by Steven Silberman's review, naming it his "Book of the Year."
What is in store for 2012? Running more wonderful posts from you, our community, and more autism advocacy.
On behalf of the entire Thinking Person's Guide to Autism editorial team, I want to express our deep thanks and gratitude for our readers and contributors.
The Complete List of 2011 posts, in alphabetical order by last name. (On section assignments and the ordering of the list: the assignment to section is for some posts, arbitrary, as they might have fit in another. Interviews and transcriptions of talks are listed by the person's name, rather than the interviewer or the transcriber. Rather than ordering the list chronologically, I chose to alphabetize by last name.)
Autistics on Autism
Autistics on Autism
- Julia Bascom, Quiet Hands (11/23/11)
- Julia Bascom, Introducing the Loud Hands Project (12/26/11)
- Corina Lynn Becker, Why I'm Wearing Black (04/21/11)
- Katie Bridges, Special Interests (07/27/11)
- Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, On the Matter of Empathy (07/01/11)
- Sharon daVanport, Interview with Sharon daVanPort (02/07/11)
- Carol Greenburg, George Takei On My Mind (3/23/11)
- Carol Greenburg, An Interview with Carol Greenburg (04/25/11)
- Carol Greenburg, Heeding Autism's Aesop (06/22/11)
- Carol Greenburg, Good Cop (07/11/11)
- Carol Greenburg, I Feel For You (08/01/11)
- L.C. Horn, Imagine This (01/10/11)
- Leah Jane, Autism Acceptance for Autism Awareness Month (04/12/11)
- Kirsten Kirsten, My Fights with Autism and the Need for More Awareness (04/29/11)
- Kerry Magro, Coming Out: Autism in College (07/15/11)
- Lindsez Nebeker, Autism, Siblings, and the Art of Unconditional Love: An Interview with Lindsey Nebeker (05/02/11)
- Lindsey Nebeker, Autism and Orgasm (07/06/11)
- Alex Plank, Interview with Alex Plank, Autism's Most Eligible Batchelor (07/29/11)
- John Elder Robinson, Be Different: An Interview with John Elder Robinson (04/15/11)
- Heather E. Sedlock, Stop and Smell the Roses but Be Wary of the Thorns… (06/01/11)
- Steven Shore, The TPGA Interview with Steven Shore (11/09/11)
- Lynne Soraya, The Power of Presupposition (02/09/11)
- Sunfell, Wrestling with Asperger's (06/03/11)
- Lydia Wayman, Communication: A Million Little Things (10/07/11)
- Emily J. Willingham, Autism and Function: An Autistic Boy's Perspective (05/25/11)
- Zoe, About Stimming (04/04/11)
- Zoe, Headlines: Abuse and Empathy (04/23/11)
Issues in Adult Autism: Transition Issues,
Employment, Housing, and ...
- Liane Kupferberg Carter, Roots and Wings (02/14/11)
- Daniel Dage, Planning for the Transition from IDEA Protection to Adulthood (02/28/11)
- Rory Patton, Fit to Work in the UK, But Where? (08/08/11)
- Elise Ronan, On Snowstorms and Planning for the Future (02/23/11)
- Susan Senator, Penny Foolish and Pound Cruel (02/25/11)
- Laura Shumaker, Talking About Sex With Young Adults with Autism (10/05/11)
- Scott Standifer, Rethinking Employment for Adults with Autism (01/24/11)
- Scott Standifer, Autistic Fixation Shapes Photographer's Unique Images (02/18/11)
- Kim Wombles, On Autonomy and Establishing Guardianship for My Son (01/28/11)
Practical Advice for Autistics, Autism Parents, and Others
- Corina Lynn Becker, Surviving the Holidays with Autism (12/07/11)
- Terri Connolly, Religion and Autism: The Christian Perspective (06/10/11)
- Kim Dull, But I Don't Know What to SAY (06/15/11)
- Greg Evans DDS, Dentistry and Autism Spectrum Disorders (01/14/11)
- Kathi Flynn, Five Ways to Reduce Problem Behaviors (08/17/11)
- Sarah MacLeod, Reading for Answers (03/25/11)
- G. Brett Miller, Some thoughts on Dads, IEPs, and PTOs (06/17/11)
- Sarah Oriel, Why Is There 30 Pounds of Rice in the Bathtub? (07/25/11)
- Eric Peacock, Finding Resources With My AutismTeam (08/22/11)
- Chris Pierce, Say YES! To Summer Camp (05/06/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Summer Strategies for Autism Families (06/20/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Have A Merry, but Modified, Halloween (Repost) (10/31/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Finally Finding Holiday Gifts for Kids with Special Needs (12/12/11)
- Steven Shore, Learning to Play An Instrument Is For People With Autism Too (10/10/11)
- Hartley Steiner, What Is Sensory Processing Disorder (01/12/11)
- Joshua Weinstein, Religion and Autism: The Jewish Perspective (06/10/11)
- L. Mae Wilkinson, International Travel with an Autistic Child (08/10/11)
After the Autism Diagnosis: First Steps
- Sharon Morris, Processing Grief After An ASD Diagnosis (03/18/11)
- Karen Velez, Early Ignorance (11/18/11)
Caregiving and Autism
- Amanda Broadfoot, Church with the Special Needs Child (03/30/11)
- TPGA Editors, Wandering: We Need Data (04/08/11)
- Jennifer Byde Myers, Parenthood (the show) and Telling Your Child About Asperger's (03/07/11)
- Autism and Oughtism, Unfriendly Consequences: What Competition for Limited Resources Does to the Autism Community and Autism Families (06/29/11)
- Sarah Schneider, Redirection (03/16/11)
- Deanne Shoyer, I'm Not A Bad Parent...Right? (12/16/11)
- Laura Shumaker, Autism Families: Seeking Support is a Sign of Family Health (07/22/11)
Therapies And Service Providers
- Diane Leventhal, Which Students Need Social Learning Groups? (11/11/11)
- Jennifer Byde Myers, When Medication is the Right Choice (02/02/11)
- Joni Redlich, DTP, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Physical Therapy: The Motor Connection (11/04/11)
- Dr. Som, For Physicians: 10 Things You Can Do To Help Families Affected by Autism or Developmental Delays (02/16/11)
- Dr. Som, Early Screening: Ode to the MCHAT (03/31/11)
Causation Theories and Dubious Therapies
- Liz Ditz, Andrew Wakefield, Yesterday's British Medical Journal Articles on His Fraud, and The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism (01/06/11)
- Robert Goldberg, Interview with Robert Goldberg PhD (03/21/11)
- Seth Mnookin, An Interview with Seth Mnookin (01/19/11)
- Jennifer Byde Myers, My Baby Cried Louder than Science (08/03/11)
- Paul Offit, Interview with Paul Offit MD (01/31/11)
- Adam J. Slagell, Hi-Fi Pseudo-Sci, Occupational Therapy, and Making Some Lemonade (03/28/11)
- Amy Tutuer MD, Autism and Mother Blame (01/17/11)
- Emily J. Willingham, Mitochondrial Disease and Autism: Linked? (03/09/11)
- Emily J. Willingham, Differentiating Between Real Science and Fake Science (12/14/11)
- Kim Wombles, Listening Therapy (07/13/11)
- Carrie Arick, Kid Manual: A Little Mom Snark (06/08/11)
- Christina Goodley Bailey, Asperger's Syndrome is Real, Even When It is Hard to See (02/21/11)
- Jennifer Bush, What are the Chances (01/05/11)
- Alysia K. Butler, Wonder (04/05/11)
- Kristina Chew, The Eternal Autismland Conundrum (08/29/11)
- Dana Commandatore, Interview with Dana Commandatore (06/13/11)
- Christa Dahlstrom, Seven Years Old (04/11/11)
- Christa Dahlstrom, Interview: Crista Dahlstrom of Flummox and Friends (11/14/11)
- Jess Diary of a Mom, MIT (01/03/11)
- Liz Ditz, What Am I Doing Here? (04/14/11)
- Kim Dull, The "A" Word (04/26/11)
- Stuart Duncan, The Last Word on Person-First Language (07/20/11)
- Jack Gallagher, A Different Kind of Cool (12/28/11)
- Rob Gorski, My Broken Heart: The Bare-Handed Man (04/28/11)
- Joan T. Hocky, Lessons from Season 10 (06/06/11)
- Debra Hosseini, Interview: Debra Hosseini and ARTISM The Art of Autism (07/03/11)
- Rupert Isaacson, Interview with Rupert Isaacson (02/04/11)
- Sam Kellar, Profound Lessons from Asperger's Syndrome (01/21/11)
- Sarah MacLeod, Patience, Awareness, and Justice (04/27/11)
- Spectrummy Mummy, My Fight (04/20/11)
- Patty Porch, Random Acts of Pickles (05/08/11)
- Chris R., Excuse Me-- That's My Son You Are Talking About (11/21/11)
- Kris Robin, Little Songbird (04/18/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Loving Lampposts: Accepting and Understanding Neurodiversity (03/29/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, I Want to Tell You A Secret About Autism Awareness (08/05/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, TPGA at BlogHer 2011 (08/12/11)
- Brenda Rothman, The Color of Skin (07/08/11)
- Sarah Seymour, On "Social Blindness" (06/27/11)
- Kristen Spina, All I Have to Say (04/07/11)
- Amy Spurway, Mother of a Child with Autism (04/19/11)
- Squillo, Two Steps Forward, One Step Back (04/06/11)
- TPGA Editors, Let Me Stim, Let Me Stim,Let Me Stim (12/23/11)
- Emily J. Willingham, What Is It About Autism? (04/01/11)
- Jean Winegardner, Interview with Ryan Cartwright of Alphas (10/03/11)
- The Brothers Winn, What You Ought to Know: Autism (02/19/11)
- Dawn Comer, Purple Sucker (04/13/11)
- Rivka Iacullo, Randomness (04/22/11)
- Sarah MacLeod, Love By Any Other Name (09/05/11)
- Spectrummy Mummy, The Journey (09/14/11)
- Jennifer Byde Myers, Checking the "Autism" Box (08/15/11)
- Jennifer Byde Myers, Joy, Guilt, Tomatoes: Parenting and Autism (09/12/11)
- Mark Osteen, In the Echo Chamber (01/26/11)
- Brenda Rothman, Facing My Fears About Learning (12/02/11)
- Susan Senator, Idle Thoughts On A Son's Transition to Autistic Adulthood (10/21/11)
- T.C., At the Dog Park (05/23/11)
- Alan Foley, An Interview with iAdvocate Alan Foley (06/24/11)
- Charles P. Fox, Emergency Evacuation Should Be Part of Every IEP (03/11/11)
- Corin Barsily Goodwin, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Giftedness: Twice Exceptional (02/11/11)
- KAL, Back to School (09/07/11)
- Lydia Wayman, An Autistic's Advice: Ten Tips for Teachers (12/05/11)
- Judy McCrary Koeppen, Dear Parents of the Blue Bombers (03/02/11)
- Shannon des Roches Rosa, Bullying and Special Needs (02/15/11)
- Emily J. Willingham, Why We Are Homeschooling Our Autistic Son (08/24/11)
- Elaine Park, Motivation, Middle School, and iPad Cool (05/04/11)
- Sandy Plotkin, The 26th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference (03/04/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, iPads and Autism Resources (03/22/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Hacking Autism's App Hackathon (Part 1) (10/17/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Hacking Autism's App Hackathon (Part 2) (10/19/11)
- Sander Begeer, IMFAR 2011: Sex Differences In the Identification and Diagnosis of Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and PDDNOS (05/13/11)
- Jon Brock, PPD-NOS and DSM5 (11/07/11)
- Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, A Critique of the Empathy-Quotient (EQ) Test (11/28/11)
- Eric Courchesne, IMFAR 2011: Dr. Eric Courchesne on the Developmental Neurobiology of Autism (05/20/11)
- Tom Insel, IMFAR 2011: NIMH Director Tom Insel on the IACC (05/12/11)
- Sally Ozonoff, IMFAR 2011: Onset Patterns in Autism: Correspondence Between Home Video and Parent Report (05/13/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Takeaways From The 10th Annual UCSF Developmental Disabilities Conference (03/14/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, IMFAR Press Conference (05/11/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, IMFAR 2011: Characterizing Cognition in Nonverbal Individuals With Autism: Innovative Assessment and Treatment (05/12/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, International Autism Conference Comes To San Diego (05/13/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, IMFAR 2011: Intermission Teaser (05/15/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, IMFAR 2011: Proof of Evolution (05/16/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, IMFAR 2011: What Parents Expect For Their Autistic Children, High School and Beyond (05/18/11)
- Lawrence D. Scahill, IMFAR 2011: The Clinical Face of Anxiety in Autism (05/30/11)
- C.M. Schumann, IMFAR 2011 Neuopathology of the Amgydala in Autism (05/27/11)
- Alison Singer, Interview with Alison Singer of the Autism Science Foundation (07/18/11)
- Corina Lynn Becker, The Beginnings of Autistics Speaking Day (09/09/11)
- Lydia Brown, Person-First Language: Why It Matters (The Significance of Semantics) (11/30/11)
- Kristina Chew, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Nine (09/29/11)
- Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, With Autism, The Empathy Issue Is A Human-Rights Issue (09/16/11)
- Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, Unwarranted Conclusions and the Potential for Harm: My Reply to Simon Baron-Cohen (Part One) (10/12/11)
- Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, Unwarranted Conclusions and the Potential for Harm: My Reply to Simon Baron-Cohen (Part Two) (10/14/11)
- Liz Ditz, Autistics Speaking Day 2011 (11/01/11)
- Paula C. Durbin-Westby, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Nine (09/30/11)
- Paula C. Durbin-Westby, A Mother, Fearing the Costs of Autism, Kills Her Child (12/09/11)
- TPGA Editors, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues: Intermission (09/24/11)
- Kassiane, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Seven (09/27/11)
- Kassiane , Advocacy Begins with "No" (11/02/11)
- Melody Latimer, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Six (09/26/11)
- Ari Ne'eman, Keynote Talk: Syracuse University Neurodiversity Symposium, Part I (08/19/11)
- Ari Ne'eman, Keynote Talk: Syracuse University Neurodiversity Symposium, Part II (08/26/11)
- Ari Ne'eman, Keynote Talk: Syracuse University Neurodiversity Symposium, Part III (09/02/11)
- Ari Ne'eman, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Three Ari Ne'eman (09/21/11)
- Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Lives Worth Living: A New Film on the American Disability Rights Movement (10/26/11)
- Robert Rummel-Hudson, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Two: Robert Rummel-Hudson (09/20/11)
- Robert Rummel-Hudson, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Five (09/23/11)
- Amanda Forest Vivian, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Eight (09/28/11)
- Lydia Wayman, It's Becoming Very Real, That Sad World (10/18/11)
- Emily J. Willingham, Words Matter: Thanks, Ricky Gervais, for the Pitch (10/24/11)
- Jean Winegardener, Finding Not Even Wrongland (11/16/11)
- Zoe, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day One: Zoe (09/19/11)
- Zoe, The Self-Advocate/Parent Dialogues, Day Four (09/22/11)
- TPGA Editors, Carol Greenburg Joins TPGA Editorial Board (01/11/11)
- TPGA Editors, National Conference On Autism and Employment (01/13/11)
- TPGA Editors, Support the Autism Science Foundation (02/20/11)
- TPGA Editors, April is Autism Story Sharing Month At TPGA (03/24/11)
- TPGA Editors, Autism Awareness 2011: The Stories We Shared (04/30/11)
- TGPA Editors, TPGA will be blogging IMFAR (05/11/11)
- TPGA Editors, TPGA's Mission Explained on Health Central (06/11/11)
- TPGA Editors, A Little Helps A Lot (06/23/11)
- TPGA Editors, Help Urban Autism Preschoolers Get A Playground (07/24/11)
- TPGA Editors, Resources: Share the Wealth (08/31/11)
- TPGA Editors, Attitude of Gratitude: Xoom Giveaway (11/25/11)
- TPGA Editors, Our Book Is Here! (12/19/11)
- TPGA Editors, Our Book Named Book of the Year! (12/21/11)
Too much information
Posted by: Ross Coe | Sunday, January 01, 2012 at 06:42 PM
Oh, deer, Mr. Coe. Perhaps you should just buy the book.
By the way, have you ever figured out yet why Roald Dahl's daughter lost her voice after measles? You have had at least nine months to learn why.
Posted by: Chris | Sunday, January 01, 2012 at 08:13 PM
I don't think there's such thing as too much information
Posted by: wright profemur injuries | Thursday, January 05, 2012 at 11:58 AM