Alien from WrongPlanet.net
I had the pleasure of attending the official launch of the new Center for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders at Towson University June 9. Every speaker had a powerful presentation, but the gist is that almost everything regarding autism spectrum disorders focuses on children and therefore most people with autism or Asperger's age out of many of the resources they need.
From a media standpoint, I wish more news organizations would take the time to cover this crucial issue or just the new center. (I didn't see any local Baltimore TV stations there and no story appeared in the Baltimore Sun, and all the speakers were articulate, informative and humorous, i.e. all of them would be highly quotable in any news story.)
Here are the speakers, three with autism spectrum disorders and one researcher, all of whom have a Web presence so you can learn more about their projects:
- Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., President of the Organization for Autism Research, spoke about helping adults with autism be successful. He's a fabulous speaker and so funny I thought I was at a David Sedaris presentation. Here's an online video of his presentation on sexuality education and adults with autism spectrum disorders.
- Zosia Zaks is the author of Life and Love: Positive Strategies for Autistic Adults. She spoke about how adults with autism spectrum disorders can forge successful relationships in aspects of life, from intimate friendships to just saying hello to the postman.
- Ari Ne'eman is the Founding President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), a non-profit organization of adults and youth on the autism spectrum. A powerful speaker, he talked about the interconnection between autistic culture, neurodiversity and disability rights movements. He recently was profiled in New York magazine about his work with the autism rights movement, which I blogged about on May 26. He was also interviewed on NPR on June 2.
- Alex Plank is the founder of the autism advocacy Web site, WrongPlanet.net. He spoke about what it takes to be a residential college student with Asperger's syndrome. He says the Web site has grown into a kind of social networking site for people with autism spectrum disorders with the addition of discussion boards and ways for people to meet each other.
And as I always like to bring you media ideas and I wasn't writing this blog in 2005, several presenters mentioned a good Hollywood film focused on people with Asperger's, "Mozart and the Whale." It's a love story with Josh Harnett and Radha Mitchell as the couple. You can watch its trailer on its imdb.com site.
