This past week, I had the privilege of attending a deeply moving and enlightening workshop led by Dr. Barry Prizant, a speech-language pathologist and internationally recognized expert in autism. His workshop, Uniquely Human: Understanding and Supporting Autistic and Neurodivergent Children, left an imprint on both my professional and personal heart.
Having had the good fortune of interacting with Dr. Prizant in the past, his words stirred memories that reminded me why I chose this path. I found myself reflecting on Temple Grandin’s inspiring insights about passion and purpose—ideas echoed by Dr. Prizant with clarity and compassion. I was also reminded of my time with Clara Claiborne Park and her daughter, Jessica. I can still see Jessica’s joy in learning where people lived when she asked to be paid by check for her prints. That memory came flooding back during Dr. Prizant’s discussion of passion, identity, and the dignity of individual differences.
Dr. Prizant’s message is clear: autism is not a tragedy, and it is not something to be “fixed.” Instead, it is a uniquely human way of experiencing the world. He urges us to shift our perspective—from focusing on deficits to understanding behavior as communication and coping. One of the most powerful refrains throughout the session was the call to ask “Why?”—to seek the deep why behind behaviors that are too often dismissed as noncompliant, obsessive, or maladaptive. These behaviors, he reminds us, are often strategies for self-regulation, expressions of joy, or simply human responses to stress and uncertainty. The Uniquely Human autism workshop emphasized the importance of understanding behavior as communication, not as something to be fixed.
What struck me most was the challenge Dr. Prizant issued to educators and service providers: to reflect not on how we can change the autistic individual, but how we can change ourselves and our environments. Supports, he emphasized, are not crutches—they are tools for growth, access, and connection.
I was particularly moved by the stories of transformation—not only in the lives of autistic individuals, but in the lives of their families, teachers, and communities. As Dr. Robert Naseef so beautifully put it: “I tried so hard to change him… and in the end, he changed me.”
Dr. Prizant’s approach, grounded in the SCERTS model, reminds us that inclusion and acceptance are not the endpoint. They are the beginning. He encourages us to go beyond tolerance, to cultivate appreciation, gratitude, and above all, understanding.
This workshop also affirmed something I believe to my core: working with autistic and neurodivergent individuals makes us better—more empathetic, more thoughtful, more human.
If you’re looking to deepen your perspective on neurodiversity, I highly recommend exploring the Uniquely Human autism workshop and Dr. Prizant’s related resources.The resources at www.uniquelyhuman.com and www.scerts.com are invaluable tools for anyone committed to building more responsive, respectful, and affirming environments for neurodivergent learners.
This was not just a professional development experience—it was a personal reminder of why our work matters.
RELATED BLOGS:
- How to Use the Ziggurat Model’s Comprehensive Autism Plan
- Inclusion Has Been a Fundamental Part of My Educational Journey
- Upstream Thinking in Education – A Lesson from Dan Heath
