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Fostering Friendship Through Volunteering

Carol Ross has volunteered with YAI for almost a year and says the best thing to come out of it is her friendship with Matthew Seagriff, a person YAI supports who lives on Long Island.

Tags

young adults

transitions

social life

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Author Helen Hoang talks Sex, Autism and Freedom

When Helen Hoang was writing her first book, The Kiss Quotient, she had recently been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. So, as she was trying to make sense of the diagnosis for herself, she pulled from her own life experiences and folded them into the romance novel, which chronicles the love life of Stella, a young woman on the autism spectrum.

Tags

young adults

new diagnosis

identity

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The Intersection of Autism and LGBTQ+ Identities

While we don't know why LGBTQ+ identities may be more common among people with autism, we do know that support and acceptance are important.

Tags

parents + family

LGBTQ+

identity

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How I Use My apple Watch As An Autism Aid

I hadn’t looked into the Apple Watch much at all before receiving one as a gift a couple of years ago. I had filed the device (apathetically but neatly) under “sports gadgets that I don’t need to care about” and called it a day.

Tags

young adults

life skills

social life

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Sensory Friendly Picks for Life on the Autism Spectrum

As an autistic, I always need to take my disability into account when I make consumer choices.

Tags

young adults

life skills

education

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10 Seriously Useful Tips For Living Alone For the First Time

Living alone for the first time is an exciting—and yes, slightly nerve-wracking—experience.

Tags

young adults

transitions

life skills

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Before You Go: Know Your Rights and What to Expect at the Doctor and the Hospital

This guide will help our trans and autistic community members know better what to expect when going to doctors or hospitals, understand rights and responsibilities, and strategize for safety planning, effective communication, accommodations, and more.

Tags

young adults

LGBTQ+

life skills

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The Best To Do List App

A good to-do list app isn’t just a dashboard of your life’s obligations—it can be the control room that makes it possible to keep chaos at bay.

Tags

young adults

life skills

employment

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Providing Accommodations For Autistic Workers Benefits Everyone

Companies seek a competitive edge by hiring talented people, yet many capable workers are overlooked because they have autism.

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young adults

employment

life skills

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Why We Need to Respect Sexual Orientation, Gender Diversity in Autism

Our culture suffers from an ‘eternal child’ bias — the reluctance to acknowledge or see individuals with developmental differences as mature and capable of self-determination. This bias extends to self-determination around sexual orientation and gender identity.

Tags

young adults

LGBTQ+

identity

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Autism, Gender and Sexuality

A psychologist, lecturer, poet and writer who is on the spectrum himself, Wenn is the father of an autistic child and grandfather to two autistic grandchildren. He contests the idea of what constitutes ‘being normal’? and throws light on autism in relation to gender and sexuality, emphasizing on how autism affects individuals on the spectrum especially girls and women.

Tags

young adults

LGBTQ+

identity

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What Being Autistic Taught Me About Being Human

Daniel Wendler grew up bullied, lonely, and awkward because of his diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, which is a condition on the autism spectrum. But when he started reaching out to other "outsiders", he discovered that he was not alone in his search for friendship​ and that the solution to our human need for connection can be found when we create a place of belonging for someone else.

Tags

young adults

transitions

social life