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Thomas Caswell has autism. Which doesn’t tell you very much about him.Autism doesn’t describe a person. If you’ve met one person with autism, then you’ve met one person…with autism. But over the last couple years Thomas has been coming out of the closet, in stages. And along with the common difficulties of coming out, there are some special difficulties if you’re a person with a disability. In this show, Thomas talks about growing up with autism, and growing into his life as a gay man.
Credits and Links
Thank you to the amazing Emily Anderson, the advocacy facilitator and Bridging coordinator, at Champlain Community Services, which focuses on career development for people with intellectual disabilities and autism.
The Bridging Program helps students negotiate the transition from high school to adulthood.
Thomas is working on a Sartac fellowship through Green Mountain Self Advocates.
Champlain Voices encourages people to express themselves through self-advocacy.
Music for this show is by Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio.
Reviews
Thank you so much, Thomas and Erica, for giving such revealing, thoughtful, intelligent answers and for asking such tough, probing questions. I know that Thomas is just one person, but I can’t think anyone who will not benefit from hearing his descriptions of how it feels and what it means to be treated as differently-abled.
This is so amazing, important, and tender. So thankful for Thomas’ candor in this interview and for the important work he’s doing.