Triple A!

a·ware·ness

noun

the state or condition of being aware; having knowledge;consciousness;being informed; being alerted to

ac·cept·ance

noun

1.

the act of taking or receiving something offered.

2.

favorable reception; approval; favor.

3.

the act of assenting or believing: acceptance of a theory.

4.

the fact or state of being accepted or acceptable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014.  Link To awareness Link To acceptance

***WARNING: THIS POST IS ONE TO BOOKMARK AND RETURN TO AS A REFERENCE***

Triple A! No, not the emergency roadside service or minor league baseball. April is Autism Awareness month. I'm choosing to call it Autism Acceptance month. After reading the definitions stated above, would you not agree? As you saw in my last post, the new statistics on autism prevalence in the US were published last month by the CDC. This was all over the news!!!! You couldn't avoid reading about it. So, it seems like the general population is pretty "aware": informed, alert, has knowledge. But do we want to world simply to be "aware" of our loved ones with ASD, or do we want our loved ones to find "acceptance": favorable reception, approval, favor, fact of being accepted?

You'd think my Triple A is for the letters underlined in the previous paragraph. However, the triple A I am so excited about is my mission for this April: I will be sharing the stories of some Amazing Autistic Adults! I posted a new one on Facebook each day of the month of April (or at least I hope to do so). For the sake of brevity, I will list each of these triple As with a brief description and a link if you want to lear more about them. ASD is not a death sentence. We need to let the world know that our loved ones CAN be a part of society WHEN they are given a chance, when they are accepted into the world of others! Read about these triple A's and may you feel peace as you read that success in life is not unattainable...

Blessings!

DC

My List of Triple A's: Amazing Autistic Adults-- I meant to make a list of 30, one for each day in April, but just had to keep going! Hope you take the time to read about each one!

(listed in alphabetical order to avoid confusion regarding importance)

1. Alexander "Alex" Plank- autism advocate, filmmaker, photographer and founder of Wrong Planet. Alex is also a consultant to the FX TV show, The Bridge, in which actress Diane Kruger plays Sonya Cross (a police detective who happens to have ASD): http://alexplank.com/

2. Alexis Wineman- Miss Montana 2012 and Miss USA 2012 America's Choice award winner: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/health/wineman-autism/

3. Amber Black- former fitness model, wellness expert, licensed paramedical aesthetician and owner/founder of Avinash Wellness in Houston, TX: http://avinashwellness.com/about/

4. Anthony Ianni- American former college basketball player for Michigan State University and autism advocate: http://statenews.com/article/2013/10/former-msu-basketball-player-starts-autism-anti-bullying-campaign

5. Ari Ne'eman- autism advocate, first openly autistic White House appointee {appointed by US President Obama to the National Council on Disability (NCD), a panel that advises the President and Congress on ways of reforming health care, schools, support services and employment policy to make society more equitable for people with all forms of disability}: http://www.wired.com/2010/10/exclusive-ari-neeman-qa/

6. Chris Varney- Australian autism advocate and education specialist, Melbourne TEDx lecturer: http://chrisrvarney.com/

7. Dan Aykroyd- Canadian actor/screenwriter/comedian/singer, best known for his roles in Ghostbusters, Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers and Dragnet: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2521032/Dan-Aykroyd-I-Aspergers--symptoms-included-obsessed-ghosts.html

8. Dan Harmon- creator and writer for TV series Community: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emo-OT3RzQc

9. Daryl Hannah- American actress, best known for her role in the movie Splash (directed by Steven Spielberg and co-starring Tom Hanks): http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20739235,00.html

10. David Byrne- musician, best known for being head and lead singer of the band Talking Heads: http://www.autismkey.com/david-byrne-another-talented-indvidual-with-autism/

11. David Noll- American singer/songwriter from Texas: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidnoll/from/greatindiemusic

12. Dawn Prince Hughes- American anthropologist and author: http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Gorilla-Nation-Journey-Through/dp/1400082153

13. Derek Paravicini- British pianist/musical prodigy: http://www.sonustech.com/paravicini/

14. Donna Williams- Australian writer, artist and singer (and comedienne in my opinion!): http://www.donnawilliams.net/about.0.html

15. Grant Manier- American artist best known for his "eco art": http://www.grantsecoart.com/

16. Henriett Seth- Hungarian writer, artist and poet: http://archive.today/BIcps

17. Jack Robinson- American public speaker and co-host of the online show Autism Talk. His father is John Elder Robinson (#17 below). See this amazing video about him and his girlfriend named "Navigating Love and Autism." AMAZING!!! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/us/navigating-love-and-autism.html?pagewanted=all

18. James Durbin- American singer/performer and former American Idol contestant: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2011/03/james-durbin-tale-of-adversity-fuels-me-to-do-better/1#.U03RMyhWIsp

19. Jason McElwain- American basketball player best known for his amazing performance in high school: http://www.cnnsi.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1172585/index.htm. Now also known for running the Boston Marathon in less than 3 hours! Go J-Mac! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caurie-putnam/boston-marathon-jason-j-mac-mcelwain_b_5188636.html?utm_hp_ref=sports&ir=Sports

20. Jessica Applegate- British Paralympic swimmer and gold medalist. Here are her swimming stats: http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/para-swimming/womens-world-class-pathway-podium/jessica-jane-applegate/15428/ More on Jessica: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/disability-sport/21785389

21. John Elder Robinson- American self-taught sound and electrical engineer now owner of the largest independent foreign exotic car restoration companies. He's an author and autism advocate, as well as being the designer and builder of the famous flaming guitars used by the band KISS in the 1970's: http://jerobison.blogspot.com/p/about-john-elder-robison.html

22. Jonathan Young- American business analyst for Goldman and Sachs: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/08/autism-career-ladder-workplace

23. Kim Miller- American artist: http://www.thegirlwhospokewithpictures.com/main.html

24. Ladyhawke (Phillipa Margaret Brown)- Award-winning New Zealand musician, artist, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladyhawke_(musician)

25. Lance Rice- one of my FAVORITES!!!! American beer historian known internationally for Lance's Brewery Tour. A truly outstanding man with an incredibly loving family: http://lancesbrewerytour.com/project/the-beginning/

26. Larry Wall- American IT expert, writer and developer of Perl computer programming language: http://www.perl.com/pub/2004/08/18/onion.html, http://www.wall.org/~larry/

27. Liane Holliday Willey- American professor, author and equestrian. An incredibly impressive woman: http://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/liane-holliday-willey-edd

28. Lizzy Clark- British actress best known for her role in the TV show Dustpan Baby: http://www.dontplaymepayme.com/page_10.html

29. Lucy Blackman- Australian author, non-verbal college graduate. Had a hard time finding a comprehensive description to such an amazing woman. You should google her to learn more: http://www.makers.com/blog/14-amazing-women-autism/3

30. Matt Savage- American music prodigy: http://www.bostonconservatory.edu/bio/matt-savage

31. Paddy Considine- British actor, movie writer and director : http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/news/a313837/paddy-considine-reveals-aspergers-diagnosis.html#~oC11F0ObSnaUpb

32. Penny Andrews- Library specialist at Leeds Metropolitan University- watch the video: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/08/autism-career-ladder-workplace

33. Richard Wawro- (deceased) Scottish artist: http://www.wawro.net/

34. Rio "SoulShocka" Wiles- American artist/rapper: http://soulshocka.com/

35. Satoshi Tajiri- videogame inventor/creator, most famous for crating the Pokemon game and empire: http://kotaku.com/5806664/how-pokemon-was-born-from-bug-collecting-and-aspergers-syndrome

36. Steven Shore- author, autism advocate, professor at Adelphi University, musician- great video: http://www.autismasperger.net/
His faculty bio: http://www.adelphi.edu/faculty/profiles/profile.php?PID=0476

37. Susan Boyle- British award winning singer and Britain's Got Talent alumnus: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/09/exclusive-read-susan-boyle-s-essay-on-her-secret-struggle-with-asperger-s.html

38. Temple Grandin- it was hard to pick a link for this one, with SO many good ones out there. I chose her official website. Temple is a leading expert in the field of livestock management, she's an author, professor, lecturer and leading autism advocate: http://www.templegrandin.com/

39. Tim Burton- British screenwriter, movie writer/director/producer is rumored to have Asperger's Syndrome: http://neurodiversity.com/bio_burton.html

40. Trevor Pacelli- American author and autism advocate: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/02/health/iyw-growing-up-autistic/

41. William Thanh- non-verbal adult employed at PAUL's Bakery in London. This one made me cry!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnPPbAWzUuU

42. Valerie Paradiz- autism education consultant (Ph.D.), international speaker and autism advocate. She's also an autism parent: http://www.autismselfadvocacy.com/

43. 50 Tyson- American rapper: http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=6395499

YIKES!!! I'm sure there are PLENTY more. Please feel free to leave a comment if you know of another you'd like me to add.