A man with Autism was tired of rejected job applications, so he opened his own coffee shop

via Red, White and Brew / Facebook

Michael Coyne is a Special Olympics Athlete living with Autism, bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

But what his character is defined by is determination.

After becoming an adult, Coyne had a hard time finding a job. "After I turned 21, I applied to multiple places. None of them would hire me," Michael Coyne said according to People.

So he enrolled in business classes through Rhode Island's Developmental Disabilities Council. After completing his classes, Coyne and his mother, Sheila, teamed up to open a coffee shop that's inclusive for people with disabilities.

Keep Reading Show less
autism adhd bipolar disorder special olympics red white and brew coffee rhode island michael coyne autistic man opens coffee shop
popular

Mom shares a heartwarming photo of the school custodian comforting her autistic daughter

via Hollie Bellew-Shaw / Facebook

For those of us who are not on the spectrum, it can be hard to perceive the world through the senses of someone with autism.

"You could think of a person with autism as having an imbalanced set of senses," Stephen Shore, assistant professor in the School of Education at Adelphi University, told Web MD.

"Some senses may be turned up too high and some turned down too low. As a result, the data that comes in tends to be distorted, and it's very hard to perceive a person's environment accurately," Shore continued.

Keep Reading Show less
autism autism spectrump caring schools janitors Autism Speaks custodian helps autistic girl
popular

How a United Airlines crew handled an autistic 4-yr-old's meltdown is pure human excellence

This is how it should be.

Lori Gabriel/Facebook

When Lori Gabriel boarded a United Airlines flight from San Diego to Houston with her partner and his 4-year-old son, Braysen, she didn't expect the scene that was about to unfold.

Braysen, who is autistic, usually loves to fly. But shortly before takeoff, he wanted to take off his seatbelt and sit on the floor.

"It was impossible to restrain him," Gabriel told CNN. "He was fighting both me and his father. It took the both of us to try to get him back to his chair and get his seat belt back on. He started kicking, screaming and hitting."

"That's when a flight attendant came over and told us the flight couldn't take off until he's seated," she said. "I told her the boy has autism, we're trying, give us a minute."

Keep Reading Show less
kindness autism united airlines
popular

This 6-minute graduation speech from a student with autism is a must watch.

At Plano Senior High School's graduation, Sef Scott gave an honest and vulnerable speech.

Scott said that simply stepping on stage to address his classmates in Texas was a surprise. During his six-minute speech, he openly shared intimate details about his autism and social communication disorder.

"Just by being here speaking to all of you — me — that alone is unexpected," he said. "While I have the vocabulary that you do, and I have the ability to produce spoken words, it is not a normal feat for me to electively speak."

Keep Reading Show less
high school education students autism autism spectrum disorder youth graduation speeches communication disorders
More