National Speaker, Writer, Consultant & Self-Advocate, Kerry Magro, Shares His Personal Story and Wisdom at the Forum
Kerry Magro, best-selling author, national speaker, movie consultant and non-profit founder had a very uncertain future growing up. Diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) a form of autism, at age four, he was non-verbal and required countless hours of therapy and support. Kerry discusses overcoming obstacles and provides tips for living a successful life on the spectrum.
Kerry’s presentation can be viewed in its entirely and is linked below:
Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu: On the Theory of Intersectionality and the Particular Challenges of Being Black, Female and Autistic
Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu is a community advocate, writer, Christian, wife, mom and educator. American born to immigrant parents, Morénike is a black, autistic woman in a multicultural, neurodiverse family of color and a firm supporter of human rights. Morénike is a contributing author/editor of several existing publications, abstracts, and books focusing on community engagement, disability, diversity and nontraditional leadership, including “The Real Experts: Readings for Parents of Autistic Children,” All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism,” “Knowing Why: Adult-Diagnosed Autistic People on Life and Autism,” and more.
Morénike’s entire presentation at the 2018 Targeting Autism Forum is available here.
Susan Senator Kicks Off the Forum with Insights & Strategies for Living a Fulfilling Life with Autism
Susan Senator — author, blogger, journalist, educator and mother of three sons, the oldest of whom is diagnosed with autism, Ms. Senator is the author of Making Peace With Autism as well as The Autism Mom’s Survival Guide and now, Autism Adulthood: Insights and Creative Strategies for a Fulfilling Life. A journalist since 1997, she has published pieces on disability, parenting, and living happily, in publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Exceptional Parent Magazine, NPR, Family Fun, and Education Week. Senator has appeared as a guest on the Today Show, MSNBC, ABC News, PBS, NPR and CNN. Her writings on Special Olympics took her to the White House in 2006, to a state dinner for Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Ms. Senator’s complete presentation at the 2018 Targeting Autism Forum is available here.
Panel Discussion on Helping Make Libraries Inclusive
Librarians on the autism spectrum share their experience of being autistic and working in a library. You can view the full panel discussion in a two part interview:
A Spectrum of Presenters at the 2018 Targeting Autism Forum
This year, we were excited to host seven speakers who are self-advocates on the autism spectrum. We learned so much from these bright and talented speakers.
Presentations included:
- A panel of librarians (Gyasi Burks-Abbott; Stephanie Diorio; Charlie Remy; and Erin Miller) who addressed questions such as, how they could promote positive change in a library or in the field of librarianship;
- Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, who presented on living at the intersection of being black, female and autistic;
- Kerry Magro, author, national speaker, movie consultant and non-profit founder, spoke about his journey to adulthood on the spectrum; and
- Alyssa Huber, independent filmmaker showed her film, Through Our Eyes: Living with Asperger’s, followed by a Q & A.
All presentations will be available on the Targeting Autism YouTube Channel.
targetingautismlibs.com 