If you want to understand the federal government’s new initiative to improve autism care and diagnosis, it’s helpful to understand its leader, Russell Shilling.
Sitting in his Fairfax, Va., office, Shilling is flanked by a colorful tableau: a coterie of medals from his time in the armed forces and a sky blue puppet from his six years working with Sesame Street. He shares his felt doppelganger’s glasses and close-cropped hair, though not its hue.
An experimental psychologist, Shilling has led many lives. During his time in the Navy and at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, he developed virtual reality therapy to help Iraq War veterans with PTSD and constructed early versions of chatbots to destigmatize mental health issues, bringing them into clinics.
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