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.
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.
Autism Works in Libraries: Join the Discussion
Autism Works in Libraries is a global discussion list where librarians, library administrators, paraprofessional library staff, autism services providers, self-advocates and other autism advocates can hold an online conversation to address any issue related to providing library services and programming that best meets the needs of the autism community. Get a variety of perspectives on such issues as administrative policies, connecting with patrons on the spectrum, adapting programming or changing the physical environment on a limited budget. Whatever the topic, nearly 80 current members of Autism Works in Libraries are available to offer practical advice and share their knowledge and personal insights.
We need you to add your voice to the conversation! If you are not currently a member of this discussion list, you can subscribe either by sending an email to Suzanne Schriar of by visiting the Autism Works in Libraries subscription page.
Autism Basics Webinar – Now Archived
Targeting Autism’s webinar, “Autism Basics: A Webinar for Librarians and Literacy Providers,” has been archived and is available on the Illinois State Library website. Click here and find the Training Webinars heading.
Targeting Autism Connects People & Resources: A personal account
Rachel Combs (pictured above), Public Services Manager at the University of Kentucky, Science and Engineering Library attended the 2017 Targeting Autism forum hoping to learn more about how she could remove barriers for people with autism and other disabilities in her library.
Rachel first became involved with the Targeting Autism project in 2016 while researching resources to help others with an autism diagnosis. Through her research on the subject of autism and her involvement with Targeting Autism, she has since created a Library Employee Sensitivity Training Video and an expansive LibGuide on the University of Kentucky’s website. The training video has been shared university-wide and is slated for use in training library assistants at the university.
But the best part of all, claims Rachel, was the opportunity to share with and learn from other professionals in her field at the forum.
Read Rachel’s story, posted September1, 2017, here.
If you have a personal impact testimony that you would like to share, please send it to Suzanne Schriar or Mary Pelich.
targetingautismlibs.com 