Autism Shines is a grassroots photo project created in response to the horrible, irresponsible, and outright false messages spread by numerous media outlets that linked autism to planned violence, in particular for the unspeakable murders committed against children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.
You can read some of our background story over at Mostly True Stuff. We started as the Autism Shines Facebook page largely as an experiment. Some of us had begun collecting positive images and stories from parents and autistic persons, but we didn’t have any single place to share them. In talking about it one day, we discovered that several of us each had a piece that fitted together perfectly to allow us to form Autism Shines.
Once we had somewhere to share the images, they came pouring in from all over the world. The sheer volume of photos very quickly overwhelmed the Facebook page. Clearly the positive message was desperately needed and resonated with thousands of people.
AutismShines.com is now the more permanent home of many of these images. We invite everyone to share a positive message and photo about autism, either of someone they love or of themselves. Just go to our Submit a Photo page to learn how.
In case you are wondering, we are the web site and Facebook page creators and current admins:
- Tim Tucker – blogger at Both Hands and a Flashlight and author of I Am An Autism Parent
- Jessica Watson – blogger at Four Plus an Angel
- Lexi Magnusson – blogger at Mostly True Stuff
- Danielle A. – blogger at ProfMomEsq
