May 22
Testimony of Michael F. Wilcox 217 East Road Alford Massachusetts 01266 mfw {at} mfw(.)us 21 May 2013 to the Committee on Children, Families and Disabilities House Bill 78 An Act to permit the Department of Developmental Services to provide services to adults with developmental disabilities My sincere thanks to the Committee for holding a hearing on …
May 20
The long-anticipated revision to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has been published. Although the exact wording of many sections of the book had not been widely known pre-publication, the essential features of its changes have been known for some time now. And the drumbeat of criticism has been constant. …
Apr 29
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and others have protested the disproportionate amount of money that is spent on “basic” research (i.e. trying to understand the underlying neurobiology of autism) versus how much is spent on “pragmatic” research (learning how to make effective services available to improve the quality of life for autistic people). In …
Apr 17
It pains me to write these comments, critical of one of my favorite neuroscience writers, but it must be done. V.S. Ramachandran has just published an online article that has taken an enormous amount of flak on Twitter, some of that from me. Also, the very first comment to the article cites a study that …
Mar 28
Yesterday, a formal ceremony in the Massachusetts State House made public a report by the Massachusetts Special Commission Relative to Autism, more commonly known as “The Autism Commission.” The picture here was taken after the event by Dania Jekel, Executive Director of AANE, showing Dave Harmon and me outside the State House. Dave and …
Mar 26
Last night, I attended the public unveiling of a project I’ve been following with great interest for quite some time now. My friends Cheryl and Alex Chan told the story of their years-long journey in finding a path to adulthood for their now-20-year-old Son, Nick. This testament to their love, perseverance, and creativity was an …
Mar 25
After all these years of observing how oddly (by other people’s standards) my body reacts to things, and even after several years of understanding that a lot of that has to do with being autistic, I still hesitate to assert myself. Case in point: I went in to my local clinic the other day to get a …
Mar 22
Receptive and Expressive Language All communication has two aspects: receptive language and expressive language. Receptive language is what we hear and understand. Expressive language is what we say to others. I believe that empathy is also a form of communication; one that is as essential to each of us as is spoken, written, or signed …
Mar 22
Good news! Those of us who are autistic are finally starting to get more recognition as to the important part of the population that we are. This follows closely on recent revelations in the Lancet that there is a close relationship between autism, bipolar, major depression, and schizophrenia. Just as autism is now understood to …
Feb 18
Today is a federal holiday. Officially, it is Washington’s Birthday. As the federal Office of Personnel Management states: This holiday is designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments …
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