Embracing Chaos: The Autism Blog is authored by Stephanie Allen Crist, a professional writer and neurodiversity advocate. This blog is the foundation of her autism advocacy presence online. She maintains two other sites, including her business site, Purple Pen Writing Services, and her primary website, which is sadly neglected.
Stephanie is the mother of three children with autism. Will, born in 1998, is a so-called “high functioning” autistic, meaning that he is able to communicate effectively and function in a mainstream classroom. Alex, born in 1999, is a so-called “low functioning” autistic, meaning that he is predominantly non-verbal, struggles with many behavioral challenges, and attends a class for children with cognitive disabilities. Doctors have tried to describe him as “retarded,” but that label—both the label itself and the assumption that Alex’s intelligence is below average—have been rejected by Stephanie and her husband, Mark. Ben, born in 2002, would be labeled a “medium functioning” autistic, if functioning wasn’t so rigidly and yet so ineffectually categorized. He is gaining verbal skills, but still struggles with many behavioral challenges and still attends the same CD classroom Alex attends. Stephanie is also the step-mother of Brandon, born in 1996. As far as we can tell, Brandon is demonstrably neurotypical. He gets that from his mother.
Stephanie and Mark both identify as neurodiverse, though neither have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Mark has a diagnosis of bi-polar disorder and is probably an Aspie as well. Stephanie has a history of recurring depression, and experiences several of the social and sensory processing traits associated with autism. Neither Stephanie nor Mark claim to speak as autistic. Stephanie does speak of her experiences, both as herself and as a mother to three autistic children. They both advocate for a better world—a world where being neurodiverse doesn’t mean being marginalized, disrespected and devalued.
A lot of the posts you will find on this blog are written in an essay style, versus a journalistic or memoir style. Stephanie also writes and publishes fiction and nonfiction on a variety of venues, and creates marketing copy for business clients. If you wish to contact her for any reason, feel free to use the contact form—but beware, SPAM will be ignored or reported when possible. If you have any questions, would like additional information, or if you have a writing or speaking assignment you would like Stephanie to consider, please don’t hesitate to e-mail her.
