Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Content warning: This article includes mentions of suicidal ideation, ableism. When I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, shortly after I moved into the dorms at Northwestern my freshman year, I had no idea how to talk about it. After years of struggling with my mental health, I finally had a diagnosis that contextualized my…

A hilarious and insightful conversation with Emmett, my 15 year old autistic son. We talk about how between the four of us, three are diagnosed with autism and three with ADHD. We talk about how different everyone is and how just because we may share a diagnosis, doesn’t mean we are all the same. Guest…

There is no single known cause, but researchers have identified genetic mutations that may lead to the condition. The Chinese team noted that both mice and non-human primates had been used in the past to model autism spectrum disorder, in the hope of understanding “the molecular and neural circuit mechanisms”. But they said neither were…

Nearly two-thirds of specialty centers that conduct autism evaluations have wait times longer than four months, according to a new report. The report, focused on the state of pediatric autism diagnosis in the U.S., is based on a survey designed and conducted by Scott Badesch, former president of the Autism Society of America. Cognoa, maker…

Did you know that around one out of every 36 children struggle with autism? Of course, some are further along the autistic spectrum than others, but there are a lot of challenges that affect most of them. The good news is that there are a number of things that can be done to help children…

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin found a link between early life memories and autism-related brain development. Their study shows that ‘infantile amnesia,’ forgetting early infancy memories, can be reversed and prevented. Typically, people recall very little from before age two. This memory loss, known as ‘infantile amnesia,’ involves forgetting episodic and autobiographical memories. The researchers…

I’ve spent a lot of time recently reflecting on our journey living alongside autism. The road has been far from easy, but through the challenges, I learned some invaluable lessons. This is my son Jordan. He is 27 and on the autism spectrum. I am his guardian and full-time caregiver. Maybe you are in the…