Neurotransmitters Flow in this Autism Mind

This time last year

At the RadMad Disability Lab at UC Berkeley

This time last year

Sitting in class with my Haas Scholars Cohort at UC Berkeley

Environment and Autism

Participated in an NIEHS session today which looks at role of environment in autism. Interesting discussion.

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/health/autism/index.cfm

Number 13

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2022/09/12/2023usnewsbestcolleges/

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Vanderbilt is ranked 13th among national universities on U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Colleges list. The university—moving up one spot from last year to its best-ever overall U.S. News ranking—also was recognized as a best value and as a stellar learning community.

They Can and They Will

On my facebook feed

Well said Paul - "... have a child or young adult with autism -ANYTHING is possible! Don’t let any teacher , family member “ friend” or anyone say your child can “ never” do x y or z . They can , and they will."

Citi Training

Enrolled in the Good Clinical Practices course needed for my lab rotation.

How Two Mischievous Deer and a Fawn took over a backyard!

(a humorous skit on the backyard deer seen in from my Nashville home)

How Two Mischievous Deer and a Fawn took over a backyard!

One sunny afternoon, two majestic deer with large antlers, Antler McDeerface and Staggy McStagface, stepped out of the woods to grub on some clover grass in somebody's backyard.

Simple Beginnings

Got my own personalized Labcoat at the Simple Beginnings Ceremony today for incoming PhD students.

The term Simple Beginnings is taken from the end of Darwin's epic work as he has had such an impact on scientific thinking in the last 150 years.

This labcoat is so beyond cool. A labcoat for me symbolizes access to mainstream education.

Grad school is intense which super exciting and metaphorical fingers crossed I can succeed and get to do meaningful, ethical and impactful research (metaphorical as fingers crossed is not an easy motor-planning movement for me)

Image 1: Program head Dr Bruce Carter at podium announcing each student and their research interests. Kate Stuart, (Director of strategic affairs and events with Biomedical Research Education and Training) putting on my personalized lab coat. putting on my personalized lab coat. Audience and other students lined up in foreground.

Image 2/3. Sitting in audience before/after I got lab coat. Close up.of labcoat with my name embroidered. Other side of coat says Vanderbilt school.of medicine.

California Magazine

https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/2022-fall/i-am-a-minimally-speaking-person-who-was-not-expected-to-go-to-college-now-hes-getting-his-phd/

DREDF Spotlight

This month is Disability Rights. Thrilled to be on the same board with the likes of living disability legends like Judy Heumann. What an honor to be invited.

https://mailchi.mp/dredf/dredf-monthly-august-22

Hari Srinivasan joins the DREDF Board of Directors.

Hari Srinivasan just moved from Berkeley to Nashville, but we're lucky that he's staying connected to Berkeley by joining DREDF's Board of Directors. Hari has autism and ADHD with very limited speech ability, and primarily uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to communicate. He is a Ph.D. Neuroscience student at Vanderbilt University, a PD Soros Fellow, and a Fellow at the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation. Hari graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022 as a University Medal Finalist, along with a Departmental Citation Award, Highest Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, and Psi Chi. As an undergraduate Haas Scholar, he carried out a year-long independent funded research on awe and empathy in autism. He also served as student president of the Berkeley campus organization Autism: Spectrum at Cal, stressing the idea of autism needing to go beyond mere Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion and towards Belonging. Hari's other affiliations include serving on the board of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, and as a Non Federal Committee member of the Interagency Coordinating Committee (IACC). He is also a member of the Council of Autistic Advisors for the Autism Society of America and sits on the Community Advisory Board for The Brain Foundation.