Stories of Autism
awareness, acceptance, inclusion
About The Stories of Autism Project
The Stories of Autism project was founded by Seattle photographer Charlie Cotugno with the mission of promoting awareness, acceptance, and inclusion of adults and children with autism spectrum disorders. Originally, it was intended to be a small personal project with only ten portraits hanging in a local Starbucks for a month. However, that small showing garnered a lot of attention from people in the autism community and resulted in dozens of requests from families wanting to participate. After creating over fifty images followed by dozens of exhibits throughout the Pacific Northwest, the project went on to become a national effort involving over 250 professional photographers who created over 450 portraits, all accompanied by a story about the challenges of living with autism. The project went on to be featured in exhibitions in various cities across the U.S. and is still part of several permanent collections.
Featured here are some of the images created by Charlie. Please check back as more stories and portraits are added to the gallery.
Please Note: In order to read the stories it’s suggested you view the gallery on a tablet or larger screen.
Behind the Scenes
A look at the creative photography behind two portraits for the Stories of Autism project plus an interview with fine art portrait photographer Charlie Cotugno.