In this episode, you’ll meet AJ Wargo. He’s a 20-year-old autistic man with a witty personality, a passion for writing fan fiction and a deep appreciation for family and close friends.

AJ got his autism diagnosis just before his third birthday. He has always marched to the beat of his own drum, never letting his diagnosis get in the way of accomplishing any of the goals he set his mind to.

Today, he’s transitioning into adulthood with the help of his family and his co-workers at his neighborhood ShopRite.

Visit our website for resources related to each episode: http://autismspeaks.org/podcast

There are always topics in any community that aren’t universally agreed upon and the autism community is no different. Because autism is considered a “spectrum disorder,” that means that each person on the spectrum largely has an experience uniquely their own.

One topic that often quickly turns into a debate is how we talk about autism. There are two ways we typically do this, they’re called “person-first language” and “identity-first language.”

In this episode you’ll hear from a variety of perspectives throughout the autism community, from autistic adults to parents and professionals.

Visit our website at http://www.autismspeaks.org/podcast

With summer break coming to an end, students across the country are gearing up to head back to school. And as we all know, the first day of school can be difficult for anyone but it can be especially difficult for students on the autism spectrum.

In this episode, we'll meet the Monville family who are preparing their son, SJ, for his first day of Kindergarten. They let us into their lives and shared with us their hopes and fears for SJ's transition from a classroom for kids with developmental delays to a traditional Kindergarten classroom.

In this episode, we’ll be giving you a sneak peek at some of the upcoming episodes we’re working on. Upcoming episodes include a behind the scenes look into the making of our new PSA which features Sesame Workshop's Julia, insight into the importance of genetic research, a conversation about how we talk about autism and more.

People with autism have a wide variety of talents and skill sets that make them valuable employees with the right supports and accommodations. For this episode, we spoke with Jerrid Fluor and John Knapp, both are on the autism spectrum and work at a Staples warehouse in London, Ohio.

Special thanks to Staples for helping to organize the interviews.

As our understanding of autism grows, researchers are finding that the way we diagnose autism may be biased. They're also finding that gender fluidity may be more prevalent in people with autism than the general population.

In this episode, we'll dive into both of these topics through the experiences of three autistic advocates.

In this episode, you'll hear from Phil Martin, a dad and accomplished photographer who is on the autism spectrum. Phil says being a dad isn't easy for anyone but for him, also being autistic presents unique challenges.

Through research, we know that students with autism are more likely to be bullied than the general population. To understand how bullying can affect someone on the autism spectrum, we spoke with author and self-advocate, Jesse Saperstein. We also spoke with Dr. Peter Faustino, school psychologist with the National Association of School Psychologists, about ways to stop or decrease bullying for students, parents and teachers.

This is a special Spanish episode of Autism Points of View.

Bienvenido a un episodio especial en español de Autism Points of View. Este episodio se centra en Susan.Los padres reconocieron las señales del autismo cuando ella tenía dos añitos. La familia atribuye la intervención temprana como la base de su desarrollo general. Hoy en día Susan, ha encontrado la felicidad mientras disfruta la vida con su grupo de amiguitos.

Audio for this episode was recorded by Heidi Dehncke.

This episode focuses on 17 year-old DaShaun and his 7-year-old-brother, Daylen. Daylen was diagnosed as a child, but DaShaun wasn’t diagnosed until he was a junior in high school. DaShaun is now a college student and credits their mother, Dierdre, for much of his success.

This episode was written by James Fitzpatrick and edited by Dax Schaffer. Audio for this episode was recorded by Heidi Dehncke.