In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing autistic people and their families
At The Philadelphia Inquirer, Rita Giordano reports that more recreational and cultural facilities are welcoming ASD kids and their families.
Philadelphia’s major league sports teams host autism awareness events. Delaware’s Dover International Speedway and NASCAR hold an autism-friendly weekend every year. Other kid meccas like the Please Touch Museum, the Garden State Discovery Museum, the Adventure Aquarium, the Philadelphia Zoo, and New Jersey’s Diggerland and Sahara Sam’s Oasis are among the places that offer programs and accommodations for ASD children
When the Philadelphia-area Legoland, one of several around the country, opened this spring, facility officials promised autism-friendly programming. For its first event on July 28, Legoland partnered with the nearby Ruttenberg Autism Center to prepare, including training Legoland staff about the ways people with ASD may perceive things differently than they do.
“It’s a different way of looking at the world through their eyes,” said Ruttenberg director Eric R. Mitchell, a psychologist who is also the parent of a teenager on the spectrum.
