YAP is excited to share THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE PITTVERSE, a quarterly magazine written, edited and published by adults with autism. The magazine has been funded by the Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust for the past 3 years, and has helped many adult on the autism spectrum to realize their skills and talents, gain employment skills, and open opportunity for gainful employment.

The adults who run the magazine are paid, and meet every two weeks to prepare each edition of Pittverse. Currently with a staff of 25, the current edition has over 30 stories of interest to the staff, ranging from lifestyle, politics, creative arts, food, and advocacy issues. The team is growing in recognition and skills both within and outside of their work at the Pittverse. Staffer Michelle Middlemiss was recently announced as the 2017 recipient of the Autistic Advocacy Award from the Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy.

YAP hosts a special event prior to the release of each edition that includes the magazine’s staff, their family and friends, YAP staff, and other people from the community. It’s an opportunity for the magazine team to talk about their written pieces, share their thoughts and talents, and continue to make connections with others throughout their community.

The most recent release was hosted on Wednesday, July 12th. Among the attendees was local Pittsburgh news station KDKA. They contacted YAP in May about the magazine, and after speaking, decided to attend a writer’s meeting to film for a news segment. After interviewing some of the Pittverse staff and observing the meeting, they were moved enough to hold the story until after the release.

THE STORY AIRED ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 20TH, and it is now featured on the Pennsylvania Bureau of Autism Services (BAS) website.

PITTVERSEIS AVAILABLE ONLINE and also has a FACEBOOK PAGE.

In addition to the Pittverse, YAP is producing a documentary called “The Rainman Effect” that is slated for release in late October/early November 2017. The documentary, funded by a grant from the PA Developmental Disabilities Council, will focus on issues currently surrounding the understanding of autism and the impact that has on their opportunities for entering the employment arena.

YAP’s commitment to individuals with Autism stems back to the early 1990s when we began to work children on the Autism Spectrum through Behavioral Health Services. We engaged YAP staff, self-advocates and parent-advocates and occupational therapists to develop our model, resulting in the development of YAP’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Services, Supports, Education and Training (ASSET) Network (include link). Since then, we’ve grown and expanded our work to include adults, and work with over 700 people on the spectrum each week. do you want to say individuals with developmental disabilities, so it includes children and adults.

For more information, please contact Jessica Carlton-Humenik at jcarlton@yapinc.org or at 412-215-5357.