The Voiceless Minority

The National Autistic Society has released a guide to help raise awareness about menopause for people with autism. The guide explains menopause, how it affects people, the latest research, and tips on managing symptoms. One part of menopause is called perimenopause, which happens before menopause begins. During perimenopause, hormone levels change, leading to symptoms like irregular periods, hot flashes, mood swings, and trouble sleeping. It’s important to know that both perimenopause and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can cause irregular periods, but they are different. Perimenopause is a natural part of aging and comes with symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats. PCOS, on the other hand, is a hormonal condition that can cause extra body hair, acne, and problems with weight or fertility, which you don’t usually see with perimenopause. Understanding these differences is important because it affects how each condition is treated. As a woman with autism, I found the guide v...

  Love on the Spectrum U.S. won two Emmy Awards for outstanding casting and directing of a reality program. The docuseries highlights the dating experiences of individuals with autism, offering a rare look at their unique journeys. While some participants, like Abbey and David, find love, others leave without success or experience relationships that don’t last. So why are we still talking about this two months after the Emmys? Because the challenges faced by people with autism in areas like dating are often misunderstood or ignored. Love on the Spectrum U.S. not only shares the personal stories of its participants but also helps foster empathy and understanding, giving viewers a chance to see the importance of representation and inclusivity in media. Does my own dating journey mirror the experiences shown in Love on the Spectrum U.S. ? Not exactly. I was introduced to the concept of dating in junior high, and at the time, I had a very narrow view: meet someone, fall in love...

  Imagine that you are a photographer covering a story. You aren't the story's subject - your only purpose is to zoom in, adjust the settings, and click the button. The subject(s) of the photo are the story - they know what to expect and how to respond given the situation. However, you're not in the picture as the photographer - you're just observing. You aren't asked to be in the photo, let alone be involved in the story, outside of clicking the button. You see the final image, and you publish it online, and when people see it, they comment on the people within the photo and the event that occurred. That is what life is like from my perspective of being on the Autism spectrum - I am on the outside looking into neurotypical life.   Growing up, I didn't have many friends. In elementary school, I went to a Christian school. You would be incorrect if you think a Christian school is different from a public school in terms of how friendships are created. There w...

  Luke Jackson (pictured above) has been working with Disability Advice and Welfare Network (DAWN) and Suffolk Law Centre on the Autism Education Leavers Passport. On October 14 th , lawmakers in Canada approved an educational passport, thanks to a University of Winchester graduate. The passport is geared toward helping young neurodivergent people transition from education to work. The 25-year-old, who graduated with a degree in Computer Aided Design in 2023, contributed to the content and design of the 35-page booklet. Luke drew from his experiences as a job seeker and the skills he learned at university. “I enjoyed what I learned at Winchester and the one-to-one tutoring I received,” said Luke, a volunteer with DAWN, where he is a website administrator. The booklet comes in response to the findings from the Office of National Statistics, which showed that almost 80% of autistic adults are not working and that they are the least likely disabled group to be in any employ...

Times are crazy here at The Voiceless Minority. Over the last month and a half, we have had overwhelming support from both the disabled and the able-bodied community, and today, we continue that momentum.   Today is the beginning of a new era here at The Voiceless Minority. Today, we welcome our newest voice for the voiceless, Michelle Zeman. Michelle is an Autistic Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) living in Winter Springs, FL. She discovered the value of self-advocacy and activism through her career in behavior analysis and her time in Partners in Policymaking (PIP). She's a 2023 PIP Graduate, a FL SAND Fellow, and an advisor to FL SAND's MAGICAL self-advocacy group serving greater Orlando. Michelle is passionate about policy change in behavioral health services and disability training for all community workers. Below is Michelle’s first contribution to the blog. The content has not been altered. It has only been edited for clarity purposes. Thank you for joining the te...

  My inner theater kid is having a brain explosion. I just learned of a cool new theater project highlighting people on the Autism spectrum. I will link the article I read below and a video from South Florida news media highlighting an upcoming event the Autism Theater Project is putting together.   Before I get into my thoughts on how it is about time that theater and the arts regularly highlight persons with disabilities, let me tell you more about the Autism Theater Project (ATP). (See the links below for those who don’t want to read this blog part.)   The Autism Theater Project was started in 2020 by South Florida resident Gena Sims after a relative of a non-verbal student murdered the student she taught. To learn more about the project, you can visit their website at https://autismtheaterproject.org/   The work Ms. Sims is doing for the Autism community got me thinking: Why aren’t there more theater productions involving people with disabilities in t...

Your friendly neighborhood super advocate is back! Since I last posted a lot of things have happened in terms of disability related issues and content. This post is the first of several posts to come. They will discuss a wide variety of topics including dating and relationships as well as finances and the low expectations society still has for people with disabilities.  Today’s post will highlight a recent encounter that I had at Wal-Mart. The encounter reinforces the idea that there is still a narrow view of disability in society. Let me set the scene.   As I often do, I was shopping at my local Wal-Mart a couple weeks ago. Most of the time I go in to the store with my caregiver or I pick up the groceries I have preordered. On this day, I did not go in, instead I decided since I only had a few things to pick up I would have my caregiver run in for me. As most of you know, I currently live in Florida. The weather in Florida often fluctuates between warm and extremely hot ...

It's funny how to blog ideas come into my head. For those of you who have been following the blog, you will notice that I haven't written in a while. Sometimes, as a writer, you find that there are words inside you that you cannot even know needed to be put to paper until a series of events occur. For me, this blog came about because of three things: A conversation with my friend Josh, who is about to graduate, on how difficult growing up and preparing for the real world is, the fact that I just applied for my first "big boy" internship/ job and finally an article on Autism. One may ask, what do these three things have in common? By the end of reading this, hopefully, this will be clear.          As a person with a disability, there are always obstacles in front of you, whether your disability is hidden or visible. Some of these obstacles are bigger than others; some relate to social situations, while some relate to other aspects of life. T...

Today I was looking to expand the blog’s reach. To do so, I  I was trying to find an old video I posted on Facebook about Autism. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it; however, I did stumble upon Carly. Carly is a girl with Autism. She inspired me to research the disorder more accurately, should I say the spectrum of disorders. I have friends with Aspergers, a high functioning form of Autism, but like many others, I had preconceived notions about Autism before begetting my research. Let me start by explaining a little bit about Carly’s story.   Carly   The video 1 I found might be old, but in the video, ABC news covers a story about a 14-year-old girl with Autism in Toronto, Canada. Her name is Carly. When I clicked on the video, I thought that she would be your typical kid with Autism. Boy, was I wrong? This girl is amazing. At first, my suspicions were confirmed, but as I watched further, something happened; she opened my eyes to a whole new world. Now I understand w...