Since my last communique, autumnal weather and beautiful multicolored leaves have arrived here in southern New England. I love this time of year. I hope those of you in the northeast get a chance to enjoy the outdoors before the cold weather descends.

The release of my newest book will happen next week, and the launch event will be on Wednesday, October 19 at 6:00 pm at the LaGrua Center in Stonington. The topic will be “Liquor and Temperance in the Borough,” and in keeping with the theme, there will be both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available. I will also sign books. My proceeds from the book go to the Stonington Historical Society. If you can make it, please come. It should lots of fun.

My latest column for Skeptical Inquirer is “Autism Politics and the Death of Truth and Freedom.” Most of the piece is a critique of a recent article in the journal Autism that creates the false impression that applied behavior analysis (ABA), the most popular therapy for autism, is abusive and harmful. Given that ABA has been used for 50 years, this is a rather far-fetched assessment, but a surprising number of autism advocates seem to believe it. In my opinion, the article I critiqued was designed to promote a false impression.

That’s all I have at the moment. I will leave you with a picture of me holding up a copy of the new book for the first time. Always a happy moment.

SV