Introduction
Hello readers, I am Matthias Neidenberger and this is the first of a new blog series called “Articles and Antics,” where I’ll be providing you all with entertaining updates on what’s going on at HANDS, articles on famous people on the autism spectrum, updates on my own personal affairs, book and movie reviews, and whatever else I want to talk about because it’s my blog and you can’t stop me.
Now a little bit about me:
I am a high-functioning autistic and clinical smart aleck (sadly for everyone else, the doctors say there’s no cure). I am a former patient and current employee at HANDS, and will soon be attending IUPUI, where I’ll be studying clinical psychology. I have been involved with HANDS in Autism since I was three and I owe all of my development, both socially and otherwise, to the great people at HANDS and the support of my family and friends.
Family, I have the standard issue two parents, a younger sister who I get along with pretty well, three grandparents, and more cousins than most of you could count. My family, both immediate and extended, have been very supportive in my progression and have worked closely with HANDS to help grow me in my socialization and skills. I would not be the man I am today if it were not for the people around me.
I would not be the man I am today if it were not for the people around me.
Matthias Neidenberger
As for my professional involvement at HANDS, I came in as an intern in their HANDSmade program when I was fourteen, where I worked with the more experienced members of HANDS to grow my skills in the workplace. It was a very rewarding experience and one I’m glad to have been a part of. My actual employment at HANDS came roughly a year and a half ago, when I was offered the position of program coordination specialist, which is the position I have to this day. My responsibilities include, keeping up with the inventory at HANDS, providing materials for certain events, working with the interns, assisting with HANDS events, data entry, among other things. It’s been an amazing journey for me and to this day I’m the only one in the office that wears a tie.
That is a brief description of myself and the type of blog You’ll be getting, hope you all are looking forward to it and I’ll see you all in the next article.