The good and bad in a person, their potential for success or failure, their aptitudes and deficits – they are mutually conditional, arising from the same source. Our therapeutic goal must be to teach the person how to bear their difficulties. Not to eliminate them for him, but to train the person to cope with special challenges with special strategies; to make the person aware not that they are ill, but that they are responsible for their lives .

Until we create a nation that regularly wants to employ a person with autism, assure for a quality education for each person with autism, and eliminates the far too many unnecessary obstacles placed in the way of success for a person with autism, we really won’t be as successful as we must. We need to get all in our nation to embrace the belief that each person with autism is valued, respected and held to the highest level of dignity and must be provided every opportunity for the highest quality of life each and every day .

Parents have therapists come in their house and tell them what to do. They give their power away. Parents need to focus on healing and empowering themselves. They must shift their beliefs about autism. Once the parent knows who they are the child will respond .

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid .

The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears .

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope .

Autism is as much a part of humanity as is the capacity to dream .

Autism doesn’t have to define a person. Artists with autism are like anyone else: They define themselves through hard work and individuality .

The most interesting people you will find are ones that do not fit into your average cardboard box. They’ll make what they need, they’ll make their own boxes .

Behavior is communication. Change the environment and behaviors will change .

What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning .

The concept of neurodiversity provides a paradigm shift in how we think about mental functioning. Instead of regarding large portions of the American public as suffering from deficit, disease, or dysfunction in their mental processing, neurodiversity suggests that we instead speak about differences in cognitive functioning .

By holding the highest vision for your child when they cannot see it for themselves, you are lifting them up, elevating them and helping them to soar .

I believe everyone on the planet has their thing and, especially in my experience, autistic people all have a tremendous gift. It’s a matter of finding that gift and nurturing it .

When a family focuses on ability instead of disability, all things are possible . . . Love and acceptance is key. We need to interact with those with autism by taking an interest in their interests .

Let us give people with autism more opportunities to demonstrate what they feel, what they imagine, what comes naturally to them through humor and the language of sensory experience. As we learn more about autism, let us not forget to learn from those with autism. There are poets walking among you and they have much to teach .