Chris Williams
@cosmickarmic.bsky.social
Treasury at CommunicationFIRST. Father of three. Husband to one. Neurodivergent. Disabled. (he/him)
Reposted by Chris Williams
Ten years ago yesterday, I published my first piece about autism. It sent me on the trajectory to write about autism as my second job, write my first book and now my second book. I still have the emails people sent to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
I’m Not Broken
What this Washington reporter with autism wants you to understand.
www.theatlantic.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Ten years ago yesterday, I published my first piece about autism. It sent me on the trajectory to write about autism as my second job, write my first book and now my second book. I still have the emails people sent to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by Chris Williams
Something that sticks with me: Alice Wong didn’t really gain notoriety for her work until the last decade or so. How many people who use wheelchairs or who have significant medical disabilities does the world write off simply by how we visually perceive them? Farewell, Alice.
November 15, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Something that sticks with me: Alice Wong didn’t really gain notoriety for her work until the last decade or so. How many people who use wheelchairs or who have significant medical disabilities does the world write off simply by how we visually perceive them? Farewell, Alice.
Reposted by Chris Williams
Speechless. Absolutely devastated. RIP
November 15, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Speechless. Absolutely devastated. RIP
Reposted by Chris Williams
I've said for years that fearmongering about and around autism doesn't just hurt #ActuallyAutistic people: It hurts their parents. It leads them down rabbit holes and expensive "treatments" and if they don't spend on them, they are stigmatized as bad parents.
wapo.st/4oOSpTQ
wapo.st/4oOSpTQ
This mom has three children with autism. She’s spent thousands on false hope.
With three autistic children, a Michigan mother has been lured into spending thousands on unproven and sometimes risky treatments to ease their symptoms.
wapo.st
November 7, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I've said for years that fearmongering about and around autism doesn't just hurt #ActuallyAutistic people: It hurts their parents. It leads them down rabbit holes and expensive "treatments" and if they don't spend on them, they are stigmatized as bad parents.
wapo.st/4oOSpTQ
wapo.st/4oOSpTQ
Reposted by Chris Williams
"When I began saying 'I’m autistic& disabled' something shifted. I stopped apologizing for my limits& started protecting my capacity. I stopped pretending my energy was endless& started recognizing it as finite, sacred& worth conserving." @lovettejallow.bsky.social:
open.substack.com/pub/lovettej...
open.substack.com/pub/lovettej...
If You’re Autistic, You Are Disabled
Why denying disability reinforces ableism and costs lives.Autism is disability, not disorder. This essay confronts internalised ableism, explains the social vs medical models, and reclaims disabled id...
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:57 PM
"When I began saying 'I’m autistic& disabled' something shifted. I stopped apologizing for my limits& started protecting my capacity. I stopped pretending my energy was endless& started recognizing it as finite, sacred& worth conserving." @lovettejallow.bsky.social:
open.substack.com/pub/lovettej...
open.substack.com/pub/lovettej...
Reposted by Chris Williams
"Autistic people are not a special kind of people set apart from all other people. We are just one of many kinds of people, and oppression and injustice take depressingly familiar shapes." -Mel Baggs, rest in power.
web.archive.org/web/20150329... #autism #autistic #disabillity
web.archive.org/web/20150329... #autism #autistic #disabillity
Up in the Clouds and Down in the Valley: My Richness and Yours | Baggs | Disability Studies Quarterly
Up in the Clouds and Down in the Valley: My Richness and Yours
web.archive.org
October 26, 2025 at 4:31 AM
"Autistic people are not a special kind of people set apart from all other people. We are just one of many kinds of people, and oppression and injustice take depressingly familiar shapes." -Mel Baggs, rest in power.
web.archive.org/web/20150329... #autism #autistic #disabillity
web.archive.org/web/20150329... #autism #autistic #disabillity
Reposted by Chris Williams
Another bit from the same piece: Parents and caregivers of autistic children should be made clearly aware that the only thing pursuing an autism “cure” will do is make their families victims of a mercenary autism pseudoscience industry. #autism #neurodiversity
Parents need to understand that autism is inborn, meaning that trying to “cure” autism will not help their autistic child one bit—though it will likely traumatize that child while warping their parents’ attitude towards them.
www.squidalicious.com/2024/06/my-c... #autism #parenting #neurodiversity
www.squidalicious.com/2024/06/my-c... #autism #parenting #neurodiversity
My Comment For the July 2024 IACC Meeting on Caregiving
Below is my comment as submitted for the July 2024 Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee meeting, which is centered on the topic of care...
www.squidalicious.com
October 18, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Another bit from the same piece: Parents and caregivers of autistic children should be made clearly aware that the only thing pursuing an autism “cure” will do is make their families victims of a mercenary autism pseudoscience industry. #autism #neurodiversity
Reposted by Chris Williams
The work we do to advocate for people with speech-related #disabilities is more important than ever. To celebrate SIX years of hard work, we want to raise $10k by 10/10, our 6th birthday. Share our birthday #fundraiser far and wide so we can meet our goal! lnk.to/pledge
[Video: Bob...
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[Video: Bob...
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October 5, 2025 at 2:29 PM
The work we do to advocate for people with speech-related #disabilities is more important than ever. To celebrate SIX years of hard work, we want to raise $10k by 10/10, our 6th birthday. Share our birthday #fundraiser far and wide so we can meet our goal! lnk.to/pledge
[Video: Bob...
(1/3)
[Video: Bob...
(1/3)
Reposted by Chris Williams
Fellow journalists: I will not quote Alison Singer of the Autism Science Foundation as an autism expert because of the harm she's caused. Maybe you shouldn't either.
When autism grievance parents complain that autistic people and their families don’t have enough supports? They’re right. But their solutions are wrong, because as outsiders to the autistic community they are trying to fix problems they don’t understand.
Yep, still don't regret canceling the NYT.
Yep, still don't regret canceling the NYT.
The @nytimes.com has a new article on " #ProfoundAutism," featuring the same grievance parents they always feature—and minimal autistic input. Pls counter with our explanation of why autistic kids deserve better representation than parents who resent them.
thinkingautismguide.com/2022/11/grie...
thinkingautismguide.com/2022/11/grie...
October 1, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Fellow journalists: I will not quote Alison Singer of the Autism Science Foundation as an autism expert because of the harm she's caused. Maybe you shouldn't either.
Reposted by Chris Williams
We know that nonspeaking people have #MoretoSay. October is AAC Awareness Month, and AAC app maker @assistiveware.bsky.social is celebrating with a short AAC understanding video. Please watch, take to heart, and share.
youtu.be/jGpglhW7I54?... #AACawarenessMonth #nonspeaking #neurodiversity
youtu.be/jGpglhW7I54?... #AACawarenessMonth #nonspeaking #neurodiversity
Nonspeaking people have #MoretoSay
YouTube video by AssistiveWare
youtu.be
October 2, 2025 at 11:30 PM
We know that nonspeaking people have #MoretoSay. October is AAC Awareness Month, and AAC app maker @assistiveware.bsky.social is celebrating with a short AAC understanding video. Please watch, take to heart, and share.
youtu.be/jGpglhW7I54?... #AACawarenessMonth #nonspeaking #neurodiversity
youtu.be/jGpglhW7I54?... #AACawarenessMonth #nonspeaking #neurodiversity
Reposted by Chris Williams
"Accessing the supports my autistic son needs can be brutally difficult, especially as he and his peers transition into adulthood. But unlike grievance parents, I believe my son deserves respect and understanding—not grievance parents’ relentless exploitation of their children as burdens."
The @nytimes.com has a new article on " #ProfoundAutism," featuring the same grievance parents they always feature—and minimal autistic input. Pls counter with our explanation of why autistic kids deserve better representation than parents who resent them.
thinkingautismguide.com/2022/11/grie...
thinkingautismguide.com/2022/11/grie...
Grievance-Based Parent Organizations Are Autism's MAGA Movement — THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO AUTISM
Horrified by the misinformation peddled by MAGA truthers? You should be just as concerned about grievance-based autism parent orgs.
thinkingautismguide.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:37 PM
"Accessing the supports my autistic son needs can be brutally difficult, especially as he and his peers transition into adulthood. But unlike grievance parents, I believe my son deserves respect and understanding—not grievance parents’ relentless exploitation of their children as burdens."
Reposted by Chris Williams
Reporters & @nytimes.com, do better. Talk to folks like @fidgetsandfries.bsky.social, @jessdiaryofamom.bsky.social, @cosmickarmic.bsky.social, @lollardfish.bsky.social, @autisticenough.bsky.social who love and support their high-support autistic kids, and don't pretend their lives are pony parties.
The @nytimes.com has a new article on " #ProfoundAutism," featuring the same grievance parents they always feature—and minimal autistic input. Pls counter with our explanation of why autistic kids deserve better representation than parents who resent them.
thinkingautismguide.com/2022/11/grie...
thinkingautismguide.com/2022/11/grie...
Grievance-Based Parent Organizations Are Autism's MAGA Movement — THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO AUTISM
Horrified by the misinformation peddled by MAGA truthers? You should be just as concerned about grievance-based autism parent orgs.
thinkingautismguide.com
October 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reporters & @nytimes.com, do better. Talk to folks like @fidgetsandfries.bsky.social, @jessdiaryofamom.bsky.social, @cosmickarmic.bsky.social, @lollardfish.bsky.social, @autisticenough.bsky.social who love and support their high-support autistic kids, and don't pretend their lives are pony parties.
Reposted by Chris Williams
I feel so awful for parents of newly diagnosed autistic kids right now, being drowned in such hateful nonsense. You deserve better. Your autistic kid deserves better.
My kid was diagnosed 20 yrs ago; please let me give you hopeful advice:
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/09/afte... #autism #parenting
My kid was diagnosed 20 yrs ago; please let me give you hopeful advice:
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/09/afte... #autism #parenting
After an Autism Diagnosis: 13 Necessary Next Steps For Parents — THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO AUTISM
If your child has recently been given an autism diagnosis, as my son was in 2003, here's what I want you to know: Learn from me, don't be me.
thinkingautismguide.com
September 27, 2025 at 1:56 AM
I feel so awful for parents of newly diagnosed autistic kids right now, being drowned in such hateful nonsense. You deserve better. Your autistic kid deserves better.
My kid was diagnosed 20 yrs ago; please let me give you hopeful advice:
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/09/afte... #autism #parenting
My kid was diagnosed 20 yrs ago; please let me give you hopeful advice:
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/09/afte... #autism #parenting
Reposted by Chris Williams
Can you believe it's been a decade since #NeuroTribes came out? This groundbreaking, humane, endlessly entertaining history of autism and #neurodiversity now comes in a 10th anniversary edition, with a brand spanking new introduction by John Elder Robison:
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310415...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310415...
Neurotribes by Steve Silberman: 9780399185618 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
This New York Times–bestselling book upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differ...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Can you believe it's been a decade since #NeuroTribes came out? This groundbreaking, humane, endlessly entertaining history of autism and #neurodiversity now comes in a 10th anniversary edition, with a brand spanking new introduction by John Elder Robison:
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310415...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310415...
Reposted by Chris Williams
I went on CNN's One Thing podcast last week, talking about how absurd & ass-backwards last week's White House Big Autism Announcement was. But as not everyone listens to podcasts, here's a thread of the conversation:
www.cnn.com/audio/podcas...
#autism #TylenolDoesNotCauseAutism #neurodiversity 1/
www.cnn.com/audio/podcas...
#autism #TylenolDoesNotCauseAutism #neurodiversity 1/
Are You a Bad Mom for Taking Tylenol? - CNN One Thing - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Major medical groups are speaking out against claims made by President Donald Trump linking Tylenol use to autism. So where should pregnant people and parents of autistic children turn for guidance? W...
www.cnn.com
September 29, 2025 at 9:39 PM
I went on CNN's One Thing podcast last week, talking about how absurd & ass-backwards last week's White House Big Autism Announcement was. But as not everyone listens to podcasts, here's a thread of the conversation:
www.cnn.com/audio/podcas...
#autism #TylenolDoesNotCauseAutism #neurodiversity 1/
www.cnn.com/audio/podcas...
#autism #TylenolDoesNotCauseAutism #neurodiversity 1/
Reposted by Chris Williams
If my writing about autism does anything, whether it be in my books, my columns or my reported stories, I hope it advances the idea that autistic people are whole human beings as they are with legitimate needs and inner lives that deserve to be told the same as other stories.
September 23, 2025 at 9:41 PM
If my writing about autism does anything, whether it be in my books, my columns or my reported stories, I hope it advances the idea that autistic people are whole human beings as they are with legitimate needs and inner lives that deserve to be told the same as other stories.
Reposted by Chris Williams
Things today's White House autism announcement did not do:
-Discuss strategies to increase supports and services for autistic people/families
-Highlight why autistic people and families deserve respect, not pity or fear
-Endorse one speck of autism research that is not dangerous pseudoscience
-Discuss strategies to increase supports and services for autistic people/families
-Highlight why autistic people and families deserve respect, not pity or fear
-Endorse one speck of autism research that is not dangerous pseudoscience
September 23, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Things today's White House autism announcement did not do:
-Discuss strategies to increase supports and services for autistic people/families
-Highlight why autistic people and families deserve respect, not pity or fear
-Endorse one speck of autism research that is not dangerous pseudoscience
-Discuss strategies to increase supports and services for autistic people/families
-Highlight why autistic people and families deserve respect, not pity or fear
-Endorse one speck of autism research that is not dangerous pseudoscience
Reposted by Chris Williams
Steve Silberman is not here to shout it — so it’s up to all of us.
Vaccines don’t cause autism.
Neither does Tylenol. (I mean seriously WTF?!?!)
The “epidemic” of autism is the result of increased testing, broader definitions, and raised awareness.
LOUDER.
Vaccines don’t cause autism.
Neither does Tylenol. (I mean seriously WTF?!?!)
The “epidemic” of autism is the result of increased testing, broader definitions, and raised awareness.
LOUDER.
Steve Silberman is so pissed about this Tylenol bullshit that he's screaming from the afterlife he didn't even believe in.
Increased rates of autism are due to testing, a broadened definition, and greater awareness. It's not vaccines. It's not Tylenol.
It's like his work never happened.
Increased rates of autism are due to testing, a broadened definition, and greater awareness. It's not vaccines. It's not Tylenol.
It's like his work never happened.
September 22, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Steve Silberman is not here to shout it — so it’s up to all of us.
Vaccines don’t cause autism.
Neither does Tylenol. (I mean seriously WTF?!?!)
The “epidemic” of autism is the result of increased testing, broader definitions, and raised awareness.
LOUDER.
Vaccines don’t cause autism.
Neither does Tylenol. (I mean seriously WTF?!?!)
The “epidemic” of autism is the result of increased testing, broader definitions, and raised awareness.
LOUDER.
Reposted by Chris Williams
Trump and Robert F. Kennedy's announcement about Tylenol and autism will have tons of negative implications for women's health. But it will also return society to when people blamed unloving mothers–aka "refrigerator mothers– for their autism.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | Don’t let RFK, Jr. make you feel guilty for having autistic children
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., continues to sow discord and disinformation about autism and characterize autistic people like me as nothing but burdens.
www.msnbc.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Trump and Robert F. Kennedy's announcement about Tylenol and autism will have tons of negative implications for women's health. But it will also return society to when people blamed unloving mothers–aka "refrigerator mothers– for their autism.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Chris Williams
"Blue Envelope" programs have been created in some states and counties to try to reduce misunderstanding between drivers with disabilities and police, during traffic stops. @communicationfirst.bsky.social created a survey to hear what you think about these programs:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Community Survey on Blue Envelope Programs
CommunicationFIRST has been asked what we think about "Blue Envelope" programs. These programs in some states and counties have been created to try to reduce misunderstanding between drivers with disa...
docs.google.com
September 10, 2025 at 1:43 AM
"Blue Envelope" programs have been created in some states and counties to try to reduce misunderstanding between drivers with disabilities and police, during traffic stops. @communicationfirst.bsky.social created a survey to hear what you think about these programs:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Chris Williams
This essentially is sending #autism discussions back sixty years back to the days when society blamed unloving mothers for their children becoming #ActuallyAutistic. It's going to inflict endless guilt among moms across the country.
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
Exclusive | RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies
Kennedy’s autism report, touted by Trump, will suggest that using the pain reliever during pregnancy may be linked to the developmental disorder.
www.wsj.com
September 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
This essentially is sending #autism discussions back sixty years back to the days when society blamed unloving mothers for their children becoming #ActuallyAutistic. It's going to inflict endless guilt among moms across the country.
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
Reposted by Chris Williams
NEW @heardtell.bsky.social grown folk talk correcting revisionist history of Autism, RFK Jr, & dark parts of advocay w/@ericmgarcia.bsky.social
iTunes podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...
Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/5lmQ...
YouTube youtu.be/E_zpffelqpc
Substack open.substack.com/pub/heardtel...
iTunes podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...
Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/5lmQ...
YouTube youtu.be/E_zpffelqpc
Substack open.substack.com/pub/heardtel...
August 31, 2025 at 11:51 AM
NEW @heardtell.bsky.social grown folk talk correcting revisionist history of Autism, RFK Jr, & dark parts of advocay w/@ericmgarcia.bsky.social
iTunes podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...
Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/5lmQ...
YouTube youtu.be/E_zpffelqpc
Substack open.substack.com/pub/heardtel...
iTunes podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...
Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/5lmQ...
YouTube youtu.be/E_zpffelqpc
Substack open.substack.com/pub/heardtel...
One year on, and I still see you everywhere.
I love you, my friend.
Thank you.
@stevesilberman.bsky.social
#neurotribes
I love you, my friend.
Thank you.
@stevesilberman.bsky.social
#neurotribes
I invite you to hear my @stevesilberman.bsky.social story.
Once upon a time my world turned upside down and inside out.
It was 2016 and receiving my daughter’s medical diagnosis was like hearing a scratch on a vinyl record.
Autism was a subject I knew nothing about.
Once upon a time my world turned upside down and inside out.
It was 2016 and receiving my daughter’s medical diagnosis was like hearing a scratch on a vinyl record.
Autism was a subject I knew nothing about.
August 29, 2025 at 8:20 PM
One year on, and I still see you everywhere.
I love you, my friend.
Thank you.
@stevesilberman.bsky.social
#neurotribes
I love you, my friend.
Thank you.
@stevesilberman.bsky.social
#neurotribes
Reposted by Chris Williams
We lost @stevesilberman.bsky.social 1 year ago.
Steve wrote #NeuroTribes after asking, "why is it [mainstream autism] concerns are so divorced from the real problems that the people on the front lines of autism—autistic people & their families—were facing day to day?”
tinyurl.com/NDequitableFuture
Steve wrote #NeuroTribes after asking, "why is it [mainstream autism] concerns are so divorced from the real problems that the people on the front lines of autism—autistic people & their families—were facing day to day?”
tinyurl.com/NDequitableFuture
Autism and Neurodiversity: A Vision for a More Equitable Future
Autistic children tend to be taught to fit into neurotypical molds, instead of being taught about neurodiversity & what being autistic means.
tinyurl.com
August 29, 2025 at 6:23 PM
We lost @stevesilberman.bsky.social 1 year ago.
Steve wrote #NeuroTribes after asking, "why is it [mainstream autism] concerns are so divorced from the real problems that the people on the front lines of autism—autistic people & their families—were facing day to day?”
tinyurl.com/NDequitableFuture
Steve wrote #NeuroTribes after asking, "why is it [mainstream autism] concerns are so divorced from the real problems that the people on the front lines of autism—autistic people & their families—were facing day to day?”
tinyurl.com/NDequitableFuture