Amy S.F. Lutz

Writer

Amy S.F. Lutz is a historian of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, vice president of the National Council on Severe Autism and the parent of a profoundly autistic son, Jonah, 24. She has written about profound autism for many platforms, including The Atlantic, Psychology Today, Spectrum and Slate. Her most recent book is “Chasing the Intact Mind: How the Severely Autistic and Intellectually Disabled Were Excluded From the Debates That Affect Them Most” (2023). She is also the author of “We Walk: Life With Severe Autism” (2020) and “Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children” (2014). She lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and whichever of her five children happen to be home at the time.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of whole-brain 3D visualizations of pixels colored by their corresponding lipizone.

Lipids enter brain mapping limelight

Two new studies, including the first whole-brain lipid atlas in mice, uncover unforeseen complexity and influence during pregnancy and aging.

By Lauren Schenkman
27 October 2026 | 6 min read
Protein asparagine synthetase in hippocampus neurons.

Behavioral phenomics in zebrafish; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 26 October.

By Jill Adams
27 October 2026 | 2 min read
Illustration of botanical tree and computer tree growing apart.

Neuroscience gave AI its start. What happens now?

David Sussillo maps the two fields' divergent paths, and where they might still meet.

By Emily Singer
27 October 2026 | 10 min read