Mary Temple Grandin is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent of the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior, and is also an autism spokesperson.
Donna Leanne Williams, also known by her married name Donna Leanne Samuel and as Polly Samuel, was an Australian writer, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter, and sculptor.
Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College.
The autism rights movement, also known as the autistic acceptance movement, is a social movement allied with disability rights that emphasizes a neurodiversity paradigm, viewing autism as a disability with variations in the human brain rather than as a disease to be cured. The movement advocates for several goals, including greater acceptance of autistic traits and behaviors; reforms of services - i.e. services that focus on improving quality of life and well-being instead of suppression and masking of autistic traits that are adaptive or not harmful or imitations of social behaviors of allistic (non-autistic) peers ; the creation of social networks and events that allow autistic people to socialize on their own terms; and the recognition of the autistic community as a minority group.
The empathising–systemising (E–S) theory is a theory on the psychological basis of autism and male–female neurological differences originally put forward by English clinical psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen. It classifies individuals based on abilities in empathic thinking (E) and systematic thinking (S). It measures skills using an Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Systemising Quotient (SQ) and attempts to explain the social and communication symptoms in autism spectrum disorders as deficits and delays in empathy combined with intact or superior systemising.
Jennifer Elder is an American author and assistant editor for the Collins Library of McSweeney's publishing house.
Clara Claiborne Park was an American college English teacher and author who was best known for her writings about her experiences raising her autistic daughter, the artist Jessica Park. Her 1967 book, The Siege was credited as one of the first books to allay the blame that parents, especially mothers, were made to feel at having caused their child's autism through their cold detachment.
Theo Carver is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network. Created under head writer Dena Higley, Theo was born onscreen in 2003. The character was portrayed by two sets of twins and three child actors, Chase and Tyler Johnson (2003–2004), Kavi Faquir (2006–2007), Amyrh Harris (2007), Terrell Ransom Jr. from (2008-2015), Kyler Pettis (2015–2018), Cameron Johnson (2020–present). Along with several other child characters, Theo was rapidly aged in November 2015 and Pettis stepped into the role. Pettis announced his departure from the series in 2017 and he vacated the role in 2018. After a two-year absence, Theo was recast when Johnson took over the role in 2020.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) describe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the DSM-5, used by the American Psychiatric Association. As with many neurodivergent people and conditions, the popular image of autistic people and autism itself is often based on inaccurate media representations. Additionally, media about autism may promote pseudoscience such as vaccine denial or facilitated communication.
Empathy quotient (EQ) is a psychological self-report measure of empathy developed by Simon Baron-Cohen and Sally Wheelwright at the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. EQ is based on a definition of empathy that includes cognition and affect.
The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism is a biography attributed to Naoki Higashida, a nonverbal autistic person from Japan. It was first published in Japan in 2007. The English translation, by Keiko Yoshida and her husband, English author David Mitchell, was published in 2013.
Fern Marie Brady is a Scottish comedian, podcaster, and writer. Before becoming a stand-up comedian Brady worked as a journalist. She achieved fame as a stand-up comedian by entering stand-up competitions such as at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As a result of her success as a stand-up she was invited on to comedy panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats. In 2020 she became a podcaster when she co-created a podcast entitled Wheel of Misfortune.
The Rosie Project is a 2013 Australian novel by Australian novelist Graeme Simsion. The novel centres on genetics professor Don Tillman, who struggles to have serious relationships with women. With a friend's help, he devises a questionnaire to assess the suitability of female partners. His plans are set off course when he meets Rosie, who does not fit many of Tillman's criteria, but becomes a big part of his life. The work was first published on 30 January 2013 in Australia by Text Publishing and the rights have since been sold in over 40 other countries. International sales are in excess of 3.5 million copies and the book was named Book of the Year for 2014 by the Australian Book Industry Association. In the United States the novel was published through Simon & Schuster and in the United Kingdom through Penguin Books.
Music is a 2021 American musical drama film directed by singer-songwriter Sia. The film was co-written by Sia and Dallas Clayton, and stars Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr. and Maddie Ziegler. It marks Sia's feature film directorial debut. The film follows Zu, a newly sober drug dealer who becomes the sole guardian of her half-sister Music, a teenage non-verbal autistic girl.
Helen Hoang is the pen name of an American romance novelist, best known for her best-selling debut novel The Kiss Quotient.
All in a Row Live is a play by Alex Oates about a family with an 11-year-old child on the autism spectrum. The play explores the experiences of the parents of a nonverbal, sometimes violent, autistic boy and the emotions that they experience on the night before he is taken to a residential school for children with disabilities.
Jason Haynes is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by Jules Robertson. He first appeared in the series eighteen episode "A Partnership, Literally", broadcast on 9 February 2016, and stayed until the show's final episode: "Episode 1102", which was broadcast on 29 March 2022. the Jason arrives at Holby City hospital to work as a porter after being introduced as the nephew of Consultant Serena Campbell. Robertson was cast after he impressed producers after auditioning against several other actors. Jason has Asperger syndrome and Robertson is the first non-neurotypical actor to play a non-neurotypical character in an ongoing role. Robertson has stated that his own experience with autism helped him portray Jason accurately. He is characterised as a nice man, who Robertson describes as "geeky and shy" and lacking a sense of humour.
Loop is a 2020 American animated drama short film directed and written by Erica Milsom with the story being written by Adam Burke, Matthias De Clercq and Milsom, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sixth short film in Pixar's SparkShorts program and focuses on a non-verbal autistic girl and a chatty boy, learning to understand each other. The short was released on Disney+ on January 10, 2020.
The Kiss Quotient is a 2018 novel written by Helen Hoang. It follows Stella, an autistic woman who hires an escort in order to explore intimacy with other people.
