Although I’m rushing off (to a wedding and then two more film festivals for Keep the Change), I couldn’t resist sharing some happy news. Finally, the New York City public school system is finding effective ways to integrate, educate and include children with autism in...

Nobody likes being told to be quiet, especially with the finger-to-lips-word “Shhh!” Such a demand is perceived by most as annoying, intrusive and embarrassing. But try the shush command with my daughter (or many others on the spectrum who have trouble modulating...

As the mother of a 26-year old daughter on the autism spectrum, I often feel like a tightrope walker, performing an impossible balancing act with no safety net. When I talk to Samantha about managing the details of her life (grooming, refilling prescriptions,...

After watching three screenings of Keep the Change at the Tribeca Film Festival, I still can’t believe my eyes. My daughter on the autistic spectrum played the female lead in a movie at a major film festival! Who would have dreamed that my baby girl—who’d once...

Despite having to set an alarm for 6:45 am on a Saturday morning, my husband and I attended the 2017 Autism Conference at Adelphi University for Adolescents and Adults, sponsored by the Asperger’s and High Functioning Autism Association.  We had about an hour’s drive...

Hollywood has a long and controversial history of actors and actresses portraying characters from different ethnic backgrounds and with different sexual orientations than their own. An extreme example would be Laurence Olivier playing Othello in blackface. And while...

When it comes to support services for people with autism—an exponentially growing population of 1 in 68 births—finding good news is like digging for buried treasure. However, this week we struck gold. The Supreme Court unanimously overturned Supreme Court nominee Neil...

Last week we learned that Keep the Change would be in the Tribeca Film Festival, and this week my daughter Samantha was invited to a casting call for actors with autism!  We had barely caught our breath from what Samantha calls our “happy dance.”  There was no time to...