Stories of Autism

Details Posted for Stories of Autism Awareness Weekend

Charlie Cotugno — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 23:27:06 +0000

If you didn’t read my previous blog entry, Stories of Autism is organizing what we’re calling Stories of Autism Awareness Weekend when we pair photographers and people on the autism spectrum in communities around the country to create portraits and tell us their stories about living with autism. The event takes place the weekend of April 16 & 17, during Autism Awareness Month. The resulting portraits and stories will become part of the Stories of Autism project in a gallery on our website and become part of our exhibitions. We’re also asking organizations to help us find subjects and, if inclined, organize the event in their community. We’re doing this to further our mission of awareness, acceptance, and inclusion of those with autism spectrum disorders and our goal is to have at least one portrait from each state. Participation is also open to the international community.

A week or so into organizing all this we’re the responses are starting to come in. California, Montana, and Ohio are just a few of the states that are currently represented. Over the next two weeks we’ll be stepping up the effort, trying to get higher profile media outlets to spread the word. And, of course, anything you can do to spread the word would be a great help!

You can find all the information for organizations, photographers and subjects at http://www.storiesofautism.com/#/awareness-weekend-main/. There has been one change to be aware of since we first announced the event; registration for all subjects, photographers, and organizations is now open until April 1st. Between then and the weekend of the event we’ll be making sure we’ve got a photographer for every subject and take care of all the unforseen details that will be nipping at our heels.

I hope you’ll consider participating in or helping out with this event. This is truly a grassroots effort so anything you can do, even if it’s just passing it on to someone you think may be interested, would be a huge help. Or you can work with us to help organize this event in your community. If you have any questions or comments you can contact me through our website, www.storiesofautism.com, or directly by emailing charlesc@storiesofutism.com.

Keep checking back for updates and thanks for dropping by!

Charlie

We’re Off To A Good Start…

Charlie Cotugno — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:11:01 +0000

Yesterday pretty much turned out to be the launch of our Stories of Autism Awareness Weekend to take place April 16 & 17. I had hoped to make it public a little more ceremoniously with well-coordinated press releases, a YouTube video, fireworks, and maybe even a halftime show. But not everything goes as planned! (Maybe next year?) Word about this event started to get around and all of a sudden I’ve got some great people wanting to be subjects and I haven’t quite got all the information ready for distribution. So if you’re one of those people waiting on me to get it together I offer my apologies and I should have that information to you in the next forty-eight hours. I’ll also post all this information at our website, www.storiesofautism.com, and on this blog by the end of the coming weekend, hopefully sooner.

Talk to you later! Charlie

Announcing the First Annual Stories of Autism Awareness Weekend!

Charlie Cotugno — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:39:23 +0000

Stories of Autism is going national! In celebration of Autism Awareness Month (April) we’re planning a weekend to promote awareness, acceptance, and inclusion in communities around the country, maybe even around the world. April 16 and 17 will be Stories of Autism Awareness Weekend when photogrpahers will create portraits of people in their community with autism spectrum disorder and contribute them to our current online gallery. In addition, many of the portraits will become part of our collection of prints for exhibition. And, of course, each portrait will be accompanied by a short story about how autism has impacted their lives and those of their families and friends.

Anyone and everyone can participate in this event. We need local autism foundations to assist us in finding subjects in their community. We need professional photographers in every community to create the portraits. And we need to get the word out not only about the event but about how so many people are working so hard to raise awareness about autism and get all the much needed services to everyone who needs them.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Since Stories of Autism is a very small organization with very big dreams, we can’t be everywhere we need to be to organize this event. If you’re part of an organization who can link us with potential subjects, an individual who knows someone on the spectrum or if you know a professional a photographer that would like to participate we want to hear from you. Please send me an email at charlesc@storiesofautism.com and I’ll send you more details.

We’re really looking forward to this event and anticipating some amazing portraits being added to our collection. It’s all for a very important cause and we’re looking forward to an amazing experience! Please be sure to share this blog to anyone you think may be interested. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@storiesofautism), and our website, www.storiesofautism.com. Thanks for stopping by!

Charlie Cotugno President/Founder, Stories of Autism

Aspie Young Adults Having Trouble with Employment

Charlie Cotugno — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:56:24 +0000

Proof that there’s a lot more awareness and acceptance education needed by most employers. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/07/12/hiring-hurdle.html

Looking for Photographers on the Autism Spectrum!

Charlie Cotugno — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:43:06 +0000

Are you, or do you know of, a photographer on the autism spectrum? Stories of Autism will be exhibiting some work of photographers on the spectrum at it’s first fundraising event on Saturday evening, September 11th, at the Goose ridge winery Tasting Room in Woodinville, WA. Plus all the photos will be displayed in an online gallery as part of the Stories of Autism website. You don’t have to live in the Seattle area or even the U.S. to participate. We’re looking for global participation! Photographs can be created with anything from a cell phone camera to a professional DSLR – it’s not the camera that matters, it’s what the artist captures. You don’t even need any experience! Submissions are due on August 20th so pickup the nearest camera and start taking some pictures

Please visit http://www.storiesofautism.com/#/student-entry/ for all the details, forms, and fine print. Got a question? Send me an email at charlesc@storiesofautism.com with any questions you may have. We’re all looking forward to seeing what you’ve got!

Charlie

Vocal Patterns of Babies Could Point to Autism

Charlie Cotugno — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:17:49 +0000

I thought this article was kind of wild, check it out!

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195465.php

Urine Test May Detect Autism

Charlie Cotugno — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:12:04 +0000

Found this interesting article. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100603091641.htm

J.A. Tan calls himself the “artist with Autism”

Charlie Cotugno — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:29:15 +0000

The man calls himself the “artist with Autism”. Like my little guy, when he was non-verbal he would draw his ideas out.

http://bit.ly/bFQKfM

Add Your Own Stories

Charlie Cotugno — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:48:09 +0000

Show us YOUR Story of Autism and become part of a new worldwide community!

Stories of Autism is now ready to spread its message internationally by using the incredible power of Facebook galleries. And we’re inviting you to help out by sharing a photograph of your loved ones who are on the autism spectrum and tell us a little bit about them. Here’s how.

- Login to your Facebook account (or click here to create one – it’s free!).
- Type Stories of Autism in the search field.
- Click on the link for the Group page
- Join the group.
- Click on Photos tab.
- Click +Add Group Photos. This will take you to your own photos. You can choose which albums or individual pictures to share.
- Write a few words about the subject in the caption area.
- Upload.
That’s it.

Your Photo May Be Featured on the Stories of Autism Website
At the end of each month we’ll take a look at all the photos and stories and select our favorite to be featured on the Stories of Autism website. Then at the end of the year we’ll select our favorite portrait to become a permanent part of the Stories of Autism project!

So please take a couple of minutes to show us your story of autism, the world is waiting to hear from you!

If you haven’t already heard, Stories of Autism, is a non-profit organization based in the Seattle area whose mission is raise awareness, foster acceptance, and encourage inclusion of those on the autism spectrum in our community. It began when fine art portrait photographer Charles Cotugno began creating images of individuals on the autism spectrum and collecting their stories of inspirational challenges and victories. Over the last several years the project has been extensively exhibited, been featured on several television programs, and the subject may magazine and web articles. Charlie’s son is on the autism spectrum.

Advisory: This gallery has been created for those of us in the autism community to use photographs to share our experiences. We ask that any comments you post about other people’s stories and photographs remain positive, encouraging, and respectful. Please bear in mind this is not a gallery/site to promote any political, social, religious, or other viewpoints that may provoke, offend, or inflame others. The administrators of the gallery reserve the right to remove any photographs and stories from the site for any reason.

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View a slideshow of pictures drawn by an 8 yr old using the basic Paint program

Charlie Cotugno — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:58:38 +0000

They are very familiar to parents of most 8 year-olds (wubbzy…)

Angela

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1WRgpigSLU