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...

Could fate deliver one of my heart’s greatest desires in time for my birthday next week?  That was the subject of a whimsical blog which I had intended to post, but have now totally discarded. Why? Because one of my crazy, seemingly over-the-top ambitious wishes has...

Dear President Trump, I’m writing on behalf of disabled Americans—roughly 20% of our total population—and also on behalf of my 26 year-old daughter on the spectrum. Mr. President, I want you to know that I go to sleep every night terrified of what might happen (or not...

Although I’m desperately trying to STOP writing about our newly crowned dictator-in-chief, I MUST object vehemently to his choice of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary.  How could any parent of a child with special needs remain silent?  I’m counting on our New York...

Disabilities Website –MIA—Another Trump Atrocity Q: What happened to the White House website with information on federal policies about people with disabilities? A: It was erased within moments of Trump’s inauguration. According to a Washington Post last week, the URL...

Ever since my daughter Samantha graduated from Pace University in 2014, I’ve been trying to help her move toward independence by finding her life skills support and vocational training.  After filling out mountains of paper work and meeting with well-meaning (but...

Three years ago, the global tech company SAP announced the launch of its “Autism at Work” project with a pilot location in Germany. Now the project is running in ten locations worldwide. SAP has newly-hired 23 individuals on the spectrum since that time,, and all have...

As a mother of a child on the spectrum, I spent years learning how to interpret Samantha’s inner world. I was fortunate--she is high functioning and learned to communicate her stormy inner world with me, her therapists and teachers in ways we could understand. That’s...