ASERT Does Not Offer Crisis Services
If you or someone you love is experiencing mental health distress or thoughts of suicide please call or text 988 for support.
If you or someone you love is experiencing mental health distress or thoughts of suicide please call or text 988 for support.
We are looking for Personal Stories– Written Essays and Video Stories– from individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We will be showcasing the Essays and Videos at the PA Autism Training Conference (PATC), which will be held virtually from November 1-3, 2022.
We think it’s important to feature the experiences and voices of autistic individuals during our conference. If your Essay or Video is chosen, it will be displayed during PATC and will be available online throughout the conference and beyond. You will also receive a $100 honorarium, but please note only one payment will be given per person. You may submit a Written Essay or a Video Story (or both).
Note: We will accept essays/videos from 20 people on a first-come, first-served basis. Only those 20
people will be compensated.
PATC 2021 Personal Stories — Please visit MyODP at: Course: PA Autism Training Conference (PATC) 2021 (myodp.org). You can enter as a guest or you can create an Account. Once logged in, scroll down until you get to “PATC 2021 Personal Stories.”
A note to family members, friends, and support staff: Please ask the individuals with ASD in your lives to consider writing an Essay and/or creating a Video Story and offer to help them with whatever support they may need to share their story. The individual also has the option to be interviewed in a Video. We welcome Essays and Video Stories from high school students (ages 14- 18) and college students, as well as older adults.
WRITTEN ESSAY
VIDEO STORY
How to do it: You might use your computer (type “Camera” on Windows 10 for the App) or smartphone to record your Video, or have someone record you with a camcorder.
Length of Video: 1 to 5 minutes. (The PATC Team may edit Videos for content and length. Any changes will be discussed with the person who submitted the Video.) For a Video Story, it may be best to keep to one simple theme. Express emotion; share your feelings about what you feel strongly about. You can employ text (“What are my biggest challenges?”) to structure your Video, photos of things or other people, and other video.
Example: To see a very good Video Story, click here for the PATC 2021 Personal Stories and watch “Gregory Tino’s Story.”
VIDEO INTERVIEW
Write about yourself and/or your Journey with ASD:
Please Note: The PATC team has the right to make minor edits to any written or video submission. However, you will be able to review and provide final approval on all pieces, including the animated videos, before they are used in the conference.
Story Telling Tips: Please click on this link for suggestions on how to create a good Personal Story:
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.pdf (google.com)
Contributors from past years: If you submitted a Written Essay for the Personal Stories Project for PATC in years past, please provide new content for your Essay or Video. Perhaps a single Theme. You can choose from the above ideas, if you wish.
For any questions, please contact info@paautism.org