To Siri, With Love - How One Boy With Autism Became BFF With Apple's Siri By Judith Newman from the New York Times, Oct. 17, 2014.

At first, everything about L.'s baby boy seemed normal. He met every developmental milestone and delighted in every discovery. But at around 12 months, B. seemed to regress, and by age 2, he had fully retreated into his own world. He no longer made eye contact, no longer seemed to hear, no longer seemed to understand the random words he sometimes spoke. His easygoing manner gave way to tantrums and head-banging.... read more

And of course this article's interesting perspective elicited many thoughtful comments.

A rich resource to pass along to families dealing with ASD and those new to the challanges.

The study found that infants who later developed autism began spending less time looking at people's eyes between 2 and 6 months of age and paid less attention to eyes as they grew older. By contrast, babies who did not develop autism looked increasingly at people's eyes until about 9 months old, and then kept their attention to eyes fairly constant into toddlerhood. More detail is available in this Nature News item.

You've never read a book like The Reason I Jump. Written by Naoki Higashida, a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old Japanese boy with autism, this A NY Times Best Seller is a one-of-a-kind memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. Parents and family members who never thought they could get inside the head of their autistic loved one at last have a way to break through to the curious, subtle, and complex life within.

In his introduction, bestselling novelist David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) writes that Naoki's words allowed him to feel, for the first time, as if his own autistic child was explaining what was happening in his mind. "It is no exaggeration to say that The Reason I Jump allowed me to round a corner in our relationship."This translation was a labor of love by David and his wife, KA Yoshida, so they'd be able to share that feeling with friends, the wider autism community, and beyond. Naoki's book, in its beauty, truthfulness, and simplicity, is a gift to be shared.

For more information on this amazing project and accomplishment check out the facebook page and of course, the film

Union County Freeholders Mohamed Jalloh (L) and Alexander Mirabella (R) present a resolution to Alexandra "Alex" Jackman (2nd R) of Westfield congratulating and commending her for giving her time and talent to help others as a Peer Mentor with Autism Family Tours. They are joined by Claudette Bardwil (3rd R) from Autism Family Tours, Alex's parents, Mike and Lisa, and her brother Sam. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

What is Autism?

Emily L. Williams: Popularity, mixed media collage, 2008; from the book Drawing Autism, a collection of work by more than fifty artists with autism. Edited by Jill Mullin and with an introduction by Temple Grandin, it will be published in a new edition by Akashic Books in 2014.

There is so much there to look at there, but one great link, that moves beyond Autism Acceptance Day (April 2) and Autism Acceptance Month, whose motto is 'Acceptance is an Action.' and promotes this beautiful message: "Autism Acceptance Month is about challenging ignorance, prejudice, fear, and hysteria about autism and autistic people. Autism Acceptance Month spreads the word that autism is both a neurological disability and a natural part of human diversity, and centers the voices of autistic people in the conversation about us", is to Paula's notion of International Autism Acceptance Decade: Moving beyond Awareness 2010 - 2020! It calls for ACCEPTANCE, not "tolerance," not "I accept you but not your autism." We require complete acceptance. Pro-neurodiversity, pro-supports and services, against "cures," Autism Acceptance Day was started to counter April "awareness" stunts that demean Autistics. It has since expanded to become a way of viewing Autism in a positive and accepting light. There you can see the details of a number of significant advances for Autistic people that have occurred in the three years since the start of the decade.

Neurotypical, a film by Adam Larsen which aired on PBS' POV on July 29, 1013, is an unprecedented exploration of autism from the point of view of autistic people themselves.

Four-year-old Violet, teenaged Nicholas and adult Paula occupy different positions on the autism spectrum, but they are all at pivotal moments in their lives. How they and the people around them work out their perceptual and behavioral differences becomes a remarkable reflection of the "neurotypical" world - the world of the non-autistic - revealing inventive adaptations on each side and an emerging critique of both what it means to be normal and what it means to be human.