Autism has always been a part of Alison Singer’s life. When she was a little girl in the 1970s, she would visit her older brother, who has non-verbal autism with a cognitive disability, at the now-infamous Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. “I just remember hearing a lot of screaming and moaning,” she recalls. “I hated it.” By the time Alison’s first daughter, Jodie, was born with severe disabilities in the late 1990s, society and autism science had evolved, thanks to parent-activists like Alison’s mother. But there was still so much work to be done. Alison quickly became an advocate in her own right. In 2009, she co-founded the Autism Science Foundation, which funds autism research. 

In this interview, Alison is joined by her daughter, Lauren, an undergraduate at Yale University, who has also devoted herself to improving our understanding of autism and designing interventions to help people with autism thrive. Together, they reflect on their family’s story, including how they’ve turned love and adversity into advocacy, and what they’ve learned along the way.

Links: 

• The Seaver Autism Center for Research & Treatment at Mount Sinai 
• 24th Annual Advances in Autism Conference (Sept. 17, 2020)
• Alexander Kolevzon, MD (Jodie’s doctor)
• Autism Science Foundation

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Road to Resilience brings you stories and insights to help you thrive in a challenging world. From fighting burnout and trauma to building resilient families, we explore what’s possible when science meets the human spirit.