Michelle Baughman

“Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives.”
― Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

“Abuse can take many forms. It always involves a boundary violation, although every boundary violation is not necessarily abuse.”
― Adelyn Birch, Boundaries After a Pathological Relationship

“Since I begin writing and reporting about autism, I have met with people who weren’t afforded the same chances. Their educators doubted their need for accommodations. Their parents mourned their condition and subscribed to toxic tropes. They couldn’t find work because employers were unaccepting. But none of that reflects who they are; it’s a reflection of a world that penalizes them for not playing by its rules. This book is a message from autistic people to help their parents, friends, teachers, doctors, and researchers see a side about autism that they may not have previously considered. It’s also my love letter to autistic people, I will see that we’ve been forced to navigate the world where all the road signs are written in another language.”
― Eric Garcia

“I realized that I get to report in the halls of Capitol Hill because of the work of disabled activists who literally crawled up the steps of that very building to help pass the ADA. When people see me as an inspiration because I ‘overcame’ my disability to graduate college and hold a job, I want to respond that the only things I overcame were the specific obstacles in front of me. I am a return on others’ investment in policy. In the same way, every autistic person who language is in classes or winds up in a group home or institution is not a reflection of poor upbringing but rather a failure in policy.”

~ Eric Garcia We’re Not Broken: Changing The Autism Conversation”
― Eric Garcia