About
Hi, I’m Mae, a reluctant housewife, moderate mom, volunteer parent mentor and quiet advocate for people with disabilities. I have a son with a PDD-NOS diagnosis who is fully mainstreamed at his school and within our community.
I am a huge fan of all families who have children with autism; I am pro inclusion and self-determination. I like just about any organization that brings understanding/resources/research about autism. I am neutral on vaccines/supplements/diets/gene debates. I started Autism is Not the Boss in order to gather and share practical parenting tips to prepare children with ASD for a life filled with good relationships, good options and great futures, and that means raising confident and happy kiddos. So, no flamming please!
How did I get here? I’m what’s generally known as a Marketing Science Professional, that’s kind of a cross between a management consultant, a strategic planner and a general marketer – I design measurement systems, dashboards, customer database/loyalty programs; manage customer, competitive, brand and market research projects; and work with statisticians, accountants, other marketers and IT folks. After grad school, I started my career in advertising, moved to the client side for about fifteen years. After my son was born, I began freelancing as a contributing consultant for two boutique consulting firms that work with Fortune 100 clients.
But my passion right now is advocacy for people with disabilities. And I use a lot of what I learned in my corporate life – research, analysis, communication and measurement — to help me do so. That was the genesis of Autism Is Not the Boss. Because I needed to create some normalcy in my life before I could assist anyone else, and I had to sift through a bunch of competing opinions and a lot of obstacles to get there. (If you’d like to learn more, just check out the Invitation from Mae and the Parenting a Child on the Autism Spectrum pages to see what other challenges we parents face today). And yet, I do believe that a child with autism can enjoy the same successes as anyone else, albeit with a little coaching, some extra help and good support.
As long as you are on the site, please check out the Stuff that Works (for us) section. These products might not be effective for everyone, but there is some good stuff out there, just waiting to be discovered.
I also hope you’ll read my articles and blogs. I cite many of the resources and techniques I have learned through my advocacy training and mentoring activities. Advocacy is so easy to do, so I hope you’ll get some ideas for how to pitch in to help give other kiddos a chance – there’s still a lot of unfair practices out there that need to be changed.
You can also find me on Autism Hangout www.autismhangout.com. I’m still working on my reporting technique, and how to use cameras and lighting, so I apologize if I seem a bit rough. My messages are sincere. But even if you don’t want to watch my videos, I highly recommend Autism Hangout as a place for unbiased news related to autism spectrum disorders. And you can always find me on Twitter. I’m not particularly good at that, either, but I have some fantastic Tweeple to that can give you excellent tips, or just a sympathetic online ((hug)) if you need one.
Thanks for stopping by!
Mae
L.Mae Wilkinson Links:
