About Us
Guiding Principles
Autism and grief are both highly individualized, making each person’s life experience and grief journey unique. This website was designed to help visitors navigate and support the often rocky journey of grief and loss. Our intent is to provide reliable information and helpful suggestions that respect and acknowledge the grief experiences of adults with autism and fully involve them in the grief process. Accordingly, information is presented visually and through text to enhance accessibility for all users.
As we sought insight and advice from stakeholders, the following principles guided our team in the development of the website’s content:
Honor
We honor the individuality of the autism spectrum and the breadth of unique abilities, talents, and developmental capabilities that individuals with autism possess.
Diversity and Inclusion
We respect all individuals regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, income level or level of support needed.
Validation and Compassion
We recognize that grief is a deeply personal and individualized experience and validate the experiences and feelings of all grieving individuals.
Support
We strive to provide a wide range of supportive resources to meet the unique needs of our diverse audience.
Additionally, we recognize that the use of identity-first and person-first language is a personal choice and respect these views by using both styles throughout the site.
If you have helpful suggestions to improve this site, please let us know by clicking the Feedback link at the top of this page.
Project Team
Amy Tucci, President & CEO, Hospice Foundation of America
Kenneth Doka, PhD, MDiv, Senior Vice President, Grief Programs, Hospice Foundation of America
William Gaventa, MDiv, National Collaborative on Faith and Disability
Beth Zwick, Program Officer, Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation
Lisa Morgan, MEd, CAS, Lisa Morgan Consulting, LLC
Rebecca Morse, PhD, Divine Mercy University
Cindy Bramble, Project Manager, Hospice Foundation of America
Lisa Veglahn, VP of Education, Hospice Foundation of America
Lindsey Currin, Senior Program Officer, Hospice Foundation of America
Project Advisory Board
William Gaventa, MDiv, National Collaborative on Faith and Disability
Jill Harrington-LaMorie, DSW, LSW, The Chicago School for Professional Psychology and Rutgers University School of Social Work
Trace Haythorn, PhD, MDiv, Association of Clinical Pastoral Education
Mei Mei Liu, Author
Ricki Robinson, MD, MPH, Descanso Medical Center for Development and Learning
Paula Shelley, PhD, Artist and Professor
Serena Wieder, PhD, Profectum Foundation
Beth Zwick, Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation
Jordan Brown
Autism & Grief logo designer
Jordan was inspired to create this logo for the Autism & Grief Project because she wanted to communicate to other autistic people, particularly autistic adults, that we are not alone. All of us deserve to know that there are people and resources out there that can support us through tough times. Even when it seems like the sun has gone down, there will be light again, and there are people who can help guide us through the night.
Jordan (she/her or he/him) is a student, poet, and community organizer from Georgia, currently living in Washington, DC. Through her academics and her social justice work, Jordan is particularly interested in making activist spaces more accessible, inclusive, and community-oriented. She currently works in the field of strategic communications and spends more time on Twitter and Instagram than she’d like to admit. She is also training as a restorative justice practitioner and has extensive experience facilitating workshops around various social identities and social justice issues. Jordan identifies as a Black, queer, disabled, gender non-conforming woman.
Hospice Foundation of America (HFA)
HFA’s mission is to provide leadership in the development and application of hospice and its philosophy of care with the goal of enhancing the U.S. health care system and the role of hospice within it. HFA meets its mission by providing programs for professional development, public education, and information; funding research; producing publications; and providing information on issues related to advance care planning, hospice and palliative care, caregiving, and grief. Our programs for healthcare professionals are designed to improve care of those with terminal illness and those experiencing the process of grief and are offered on a national basis. Our programs for the public are designed to assist individual consumers of health care who are coping with issues of caregiving, terminal illness, and grief. HFA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation (NLMFF)
The primary mission of the NLMFF is to help people with autism lead fulfilling and rewarding lives. The Foundation is committed to understanding autism from a scientific perspective, increasing opportunities and services available to the autism community and educating the public about autism. In pursuit of this mission, the Foundation develops and provides grants to programs in research, clinical care, policy, advocacy and education. Founded by Nancy Lurie Marks over 40 years ago, the NLM Family Foundation is one of the largest supporters of initiatives in these areas.
The project team extends sincere gratitude to the following people who helped make these resources available:
Rabbi Allison Berry, Temple Shalom, Newton, MA
Liz Offen, Executive Director, New England Yachad
Sehrish Shikarpurya, Special Education Graduate Assistant, Texas A&M University
Suheil Laher
Shelly Christensen
Rebecca Wanatick, Jewish Metrowest Foundation, NJ
Sam Levine.