Miss America contestant's brave admission: "I have autism."

By Beth Greenfield, 

Shine Staff | Beauty on Shine 

Autism may soon have a surprising new spokesperson: Alexis Wineman, an 18-year-old Montana woman who hopes to be crowned Miss America on Saturday night.

"Most people do not understand what autism is," says Wineman in her video entry for the Miss America online finalist competition. "And 1 in 88 people having some form of autism, this understanding is becoming more and more necessary." To that end, she has made her platform "Normal is Just a Dryer Setting: Living with Autism."

Wineman, who is the current Miss Montana, is both the youngest Miss America contestant this year and the first ever to have some form of autism. The brunette beauty queen was diagnosed at the age of 11 with... MORE >

Farewell to Aspies: Some families reluctant to let go of Asperger's diagnosis

Linda Federico-O'Murchu
TODAY.com

The news that the term “Asperger’s syndrome” will soon cease to exist has some parents concerned – especially parents raising “Aspie” children.

Starting May 2013, the American Psychiatric Association’s new diagnostic manual, known as the DSM-5, will go into effect, stripping the well-known condition – a condition sometimes associated with loner geniuses like Albert Einstein and Andy Warhol -- of its name.

Instead, Asperger’s syndrome will simply be known as ASD-Level 1 (mild), a top rung in the ladder of autism spectrum disorders. For those who viewed an Asperger’s diagnosis as light-years away from clinical autism, this new classification may feel like a fall from grace...
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How and when do you tell a child about their ASD diagnosis?

Autism Awareness Centre Inc. 

Answer: There are a number of frequently asked questions around when you should tell a child about their ASD diagnosis. How do you tell a child about their diagnosis of ASD? Is there a right age? How do you know when the child is ready to hear the information? It is recommended not to start this process before the age of 7. Children under that age generally don’t have enough understanding to grasp what autism is all about. When parents feel anxious about wanting to talk to their young child about autism, I usually suggest they begin with celebrating differences and building pos... more »