Autism and the arts

Recent articles

Brains of many colors with people standing on them, coming out of the shadows

Book Review: ‘Nobody’s Normal’ chronicles the intertwined history of mental illness and stigma

Anthropologist and autism expert Richard Roy Grinker’s latest title reveals how our definitions of mental illnesses and notions of ‘normality’ reek of cultural biases that stop many from seeking help.

By Claudia Wallis
26 January 2021 | 6 min read
young autistic girl in playroom with a tennis ball that matches her yellow dyed hair.

Inside a summer camp for autistic children in Russia

Photographs show how a camp in St. Petersburg this summer helped children on the spectrum and their families find some fun during the pandemic.

By Polina Porotskaya
1 September 2020 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

When autistic kids grow up, Chapter 5: The war dial

“You have to reshape the whole system.” Tempest McDonald earns a measure of peace.

By Brady Huggett
2 July 2026 | 42 min listen
Red note stuck in a stack of paper.

Scientists decry conference’s use of hidden prompts to snare AI peer reviews

The invisible messages, which instruct large language models to use telltale phrases in a peer-review report, are effective in catching artificial-intelligence misuse but also erode trust, some say.

By Dalmeet Singh Chawla
1 July 2026 | 4 min read

Johannes Jaeger explains why we should care that brains and AI are not the same

From single cells to whole organisms, living beings must continuously regenerate themselves and judge what's important to continue living. Artificial intelligence does not and cannot.

By Paul Middlebrooks
1 July 2026 | 1 min read