Diary of a Mom Jess Wilson and Family Facing Life’S Challenges with Grace ZOOM Autism Through Many Lenses 1 ISSUE 12 to W O
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autism through many lenses ISSUE 12 Guardianship Is it the right choice? INCLUSION from an Autistic Standpoint Companies who are doing 7 Inclusion Right! DIARY OF A MOM JESS WILSON AND FAMILY FACING LIFe’s CHALLENGES WITH GRACE ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses 1 ISSUE 12 TO W O FOUNDERS Sharon Cummings Sharon Fuentes Jodi Murphy H PUBLISHERS Sharon Cummings Sharon Fuentes EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sharon Fuentes EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sharon Cummings Cover photo provided and shared with permission by Jess Wilson. Sev- ART DIRECTOR eral photos throughout the magazine Suzanne Chanesman courtesy of Pixabay and Morguefile. CopY EDITOR For submission/writing guidelines, Jennifer Gaidos please review the information on our website. For our Media Kit, WEBSITE DESIGNER & WEBMASTER advertising information, questions Elizabeth Roy or comments, email us at [email protected]. PROJECT CooRDINATOR/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Zoom Autism Magazine LLC, its Conner Cummings founders, directors, editors and contributors are not responsible ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS in any way for the actions or results Alex Plank Dena Gassner taken by any person, organization Barb Rentenbach Michael Buckholtz or party on the basis of reading Carol Greenburg Stephen Shore information, stories or contributions in this publication, website or related 3 WAYS TO READ ZOOM MAGAZINE! YOU CHOOSE! products. This publication is not intended to give specific advice SPECIAL THANKS to your specific situation. This autism through many lenses ISSUE 12 Guardianship publication should be viewed as Is it the right choice? INCLUSION from an Autistic entertainment only, and you are Maripat Robison, Dr. William Harrison, Standpoint Companies who are doing encouraged to consult a professional Ron and Owen Suskind, David Finch, 7 Inclusion Right! for specific advice. Ed Zeitlin, Mark Friese, Conner Cummings, Diary of a MoM Roger Fuentes, Jacob Fuentes, Bella Fuentes and Jess Wilson and Family Facing LiF e’s chaLLenges with g No part of this publication may be race ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses copied in any form or by any means all the others who contribute in so many ways 1 by writing, promoting, acting as ambassadors without written permission from READ ONLINE READ ON IPAD DOWNLOAD PDF and rolling up their sleeves wherever needed. Zoom Autism Magazine LLC. WITH FREE JOOMAG APP We are so grateful for your help. 2 ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses 3 IN THIS ISSUE... FEATURES REGULARS Realizing the Benefits of Autistic Close Up . 26 Inclusion in the Workplace . COVER STORY 08 There are millions of Autistic and neuro- . 34 divergent people, and they can change the Cummings and Goings The Wilson Family way we do business. Legislation Lens . 36 Diary of a Mom’s Jess Wilson shares how life for her family isn’t always 7 Companies that are Doing Disability Inclusion RIGHT! . 30 smooth, but as difficult as it can be to live through, it’s the hard stuff that Letter from the Editor . 06 Find out which companies we highlighted and what they are doing to help accommodate the teaches them about each other . 16 needs of this often overlooked and underval- Zoom In . 14 ued workforce. This Issue’s Q&A Question SPECIAL ADDITIONS What skill/goal do you want to accomplish that you have not met yet? . 38 See what some of our Facebook readers had to say... “I highly recommend this FREE Autism magazine! #Actually Autistic Contributors.” Artist Spotlight . 24 – Lois Prislovsky Ph.D Robbie Ierubino, a talented autistic artist who hopes to attend Staffordshire University in England to study graphic design in Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook so that the fall, offers us some original pieces on you can be a part of our discussions too! inclusion. Spotlight on Success . 42 It is with sadness that ZOOM must say goodbye to our incredible Art Director, Nancy Burrows shares how her son James’ Suzanne Chanesman. Suzanne, we thank you love for music has helped him learn for your time, your talent, your loyalty and re- how to creatively express himself, forge spect! We will miss you but do wish you much relationships, build confidence and envision success in your new business ventures. a path to a rewarding career. 4 ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses 5 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR many of our readers may already be familiar, creating an inclusive workplace environment, the Wilson family. Jess Wilson is the incredible and yes, you guessed it, one of the main ingredi- author behind the extremely popular Facebook ents is … SUPPORT! agazine release week is always a page and blog Diary of a Mom where she shares crazy time in my household. My her sense of humor, her thoughts and her fami- Speaking of inclusion, autistic author, artist and M family has quickly learned that when ly’s experiences (with their permission of course) international speaker Judy Endow shares with ZOOM is coming out, Mommy is very stressed. with her 300,000 plus readers. When we decided us her personal perspective on why inclusion Last issue, while knee-deep in publishing mode on support as the theme of this issue, we knew may not always be such a great thing; perhaps one night, I realized that I had forgotten to take Jess would be the perfect person because, not we should say that neurotypical inclusion is not anything out for dinner. Usually I would call my only does she support her family and they her, always such a great thing. Her ZOOM IN article hubby and ask him to just pick up something on but also, she has created a wonderfully diverse, is a must read. the way home, but he was away on a business caring and supportive virtual community as trip. Thank goodness, I remembered that I had well. Each of the Wilson clan wrote their own What we hope you will find after reading these a few pizzas in the freezer just for these types short essay, which they all called FAMILY. That articles and all the ones in between is that sup- of occasions. I called my sweet daughter into was pretty much all we gave them as far as a port does not always look the same, and it my office and begged her to do me a favor and topic. We wanted to see what “family” meant to doesn’t always come from the same place either. put the pizza in the oven. My baby girl took one them. In fact, we never even told them that the It can come from reading a Facebook post on- look at her pathetic mama and agreed to help me real theme of the issue was support; yet, as you line, a shared script between parent and child, out. In fact, she not only agreed, she kissed me will see, that is exactly what you will find mixed a “good job” from a teacher or even a slice of softly on the head and said, “It’s okay, Mama. into each piece: love, a sense of understanding awkwardly cut pizza. May you always be able to Jacob is always there to remind me to slow down and You keep working. I got this.” I told you she was and support for one another! surround yourself with people and things that smell the flowers, or at least eat a slice of pizza! sweet. offer you support, and remember to give back as But wait. It gets better. About twenty minutes We also bring you several articles that deal with much as you can. later, my awesome son walked into my office with a slice of awkwardly cut pizza on a plate and placed it on my desk. “What’s this?” I asked, Until Next Time, genuinely surprised. He replied, “I know you won’t stop, and you need to eat, Mother, so EAT.” Then he walked away, shutting the door behind him so as not to disturb me. As I sat there eating my awkwardly cut slice of pizza, I started to cry, for I realized just how lucky I was to have this incredible amount of support. And that is what this issue of ZOOM is all about—SUP- PORT. Sharon Fuentes Editorial Director/Co-Publisher & Founder Our cover story is about a family with whom [email protected] My sweet Bella reminds me often that, together, we can do anything! 6 ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses 7 SENSORY SOCIAL Autistic people tend to have a heightened sen- Autistic people tend to struggle more than the sitivity to environmental stimuli, including neurotypical population with social dynamics. sensitivity to light, sound, motion and scent. I Quite often, the social stigmas of a “culture fit” Realizing the Benefits of Autistic personally wear sunglasses even on cloudy days during a hiring process are enough to exclude when I’m in Seattle, and a lot of visual motion Autistics from the workforce. In addition, typi- can induce a seasick-like effect for me. Also, my cal inter-office interaction can be draining and ears don’t filter sound, and competing noises can overwhelming to the already sensitive Autistic be quite overwhelming to the point of meltdown. nervous system. An Autistic person can typically For others, perfumes or other scents can literally only handle so much “input.” The casual social make them sick. interactions that most people engage in at work INCLUSION can often feel like additional information that the IN THE WORKPLACE By Steve Andrews Autistic person is tasked with processing, which feels overwhelming. This can get in the way of Founder & CEO that Autistic person performing well in their of Platinum Bay Technologies actual work.