October Speaking Appearances!

Hello, folks! Just wanted to share with you that I will be speaking at two autism conferences this month. The first is AHA-NY's 24th Annual Fall Conference, at which I will be giving my first ever keynote address, on my experiences in school as a child on the autism spectrum. The conference will be held at Eastern Suffolk BOCES in Holbrook, NY on October 20th:

(Click here to view conference brochure)

The second speaking engagement that I have lined up is a workshop on autism and sexuality at Autism New Jersey's 32nd Annual Conference, which I will be co-presenting with Dr. Peter Gerhardt and autism self-advocate Jason Ross. The conference will be held at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ on October 23rd:

(Click here to view conference brochure)

Audio recordings of both presentations will be available after the conferences, and I am hoping to possibly have my keynote speech video-recorded. I will post links to all recordings as soon as they are available. And if you're anywhere near either of these conference venues, I'd love to see you in person! Plus, you'll be in for a great day or two of informative and interesting autism-related presentations and discussions.

Thanks, everyone, and keep checking back for more posts about future speaking appearances!

Recent Public Speaking Appearances and Events!

The last month has brought a wave of several wonderful events in which I am proud to have participated. First, there was Autism New Jersey's annual conference, held on October 17-18th in Atlantic City, NJ, at which I spoke on the Self-Advocate Panel. The panel went on to receive a mention on Autism New Jersey's "Conference Highlights" page. Here I am with the other self-advocate panelists:

Left to right: Kerry Magro, Amy Gravino, John Richardson, and Lindsey Nebeker.

That same weekend, on October 19th, I co-presented a workshop on autism/Asperger's Syndrome and sexuality with Dr. Peter Gerhardt in Richmond, Virginia. The presentation--titled Sexuality & Sexuality Instruction for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: What Everyone Needs To Know--was co-sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University and the Autism Society of Central Virginia:

 

With Dr. Peter Gerhardt.

I want to thank Autism New Jersey and Dr. Gerhardt from the bottom of my heart for inviting me to be a part of these presentations. The response and feedback that I received from members at both presentations was tremendous. The workshop with Dr. Gerhardt was a liberating and thrilling experience in particular, and was the first of what I hope will be many more presentations on the subject of sexuality and autism. It is my goal to become a more recognized authority on the subject, both as a professional speaking from a clinical standpoint and a person on the spectrum coming from a personal perspective.

Want me to come speak at your school or organization? Any and all public speaking or media inquiries should be directed to my business manager, Nicole Turon-Diaz.