Who is behind the keyboard?

If you have found my blog and you are following me, I thank you! I want to share with you, my kind readers, what my mission is with this blog. I am the Executive Director of Autism Insights Foundation. Autism Insights Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to increasing employment opportunities for neurodiverse individuals. To this end, we provide training to corporations and fund impactful scientific research.

So, if you choose to follow me, what should you expect? First and foremost, while I may be the Executive Director, my most revered title is Nana. I am the proud grandmother of four, and my oldest granddaughter has ASD. I am her staunchest advocate. I know without a doubt the value she brings to the world and everyday I will fight for her rights and the rights of others like her to be seen. Acceptance and inclusion cannot just be buzzwords we throw around. They have to mean something. My goal is to ensure they do.

My intent with this blog is to offer some concrete suggestions on ways employers, coworkers and society in general can become more inclusive and empathetic. I am also hoping to get a few guest bloggers on this site and quite possibly interview some amazing autistic individuals who have made great strides in the workplace. My blogs will occasionally be a stream of consciousness rant and hopefully you can all see past my grammatical errors and appreciate the intent.

Welcome to my life. It’s often funny (because humor makes life easier), has moments of despair (like everyone) and is filled with hope for what we can do if we try.

If, however, you feel the need to correct me, please feel free to start with this spacing after the period issue. Who in the world decided it is supposed to be one space and not two? And when did this memo go out? Do you think they have any idea how long it takes me to fix all these spacing issues? Do they realize what this is doing to a neurotic Nana who now spends all her time double checking her spacing? Time that I could have spent changing the world. Guess I will just keep plugging away over here, one backspace at a time.

At any rate, I’m glad to have you at the table!