• 2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of Autism Speaks

2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of Autism Speaks

January 6, 2014 To the Sponsors, Donors, and Supporters of Autism Speaks: We, the undersigned organizations representing the disability community, are writing to urge you to end your support for Autism Speaks. We profoundly appreciate your interest in supporting the autism and broader disability communities. Our work is about empowering and supporting people with all disabilities, including adults and children on the autism spectrum, to be recognized as equal citizens in our society and afforded all of the rights and opportunities that implies. Unfortunately, Autism Speaks’ statements and actions do damage to that work and to the lives of autistic

  • Image description: Photograph of screenshot of C-SPAN a light skinned man with black hair. He is wearing glasses and a dark grey suit, light shirt and maroon tie. Ari Ne'eman Autistic Self Advocacy Network

The Importance of Supports

"If we invested a mere one-tenth of the amount of money that we currently pour into causation into empowering Autistic people to communicate, that young man and hundreds of thousands more like him would be able to communicate their needs to us today. I am not here today to speak for every Autistic person – that’s impossible. What I am here for is to argue for every Autistic person to have the same opportunity to communicate that I have come to enjoy thanks to the support that I have been lucky enough to receive in my life." Ari Ne'eman

  • Image description: photograph of light skinned man with light hair using sign language . He is wearing a black blazer, blue shirt, and dark tie. Captioned white text on a black background reads" we work to further equal opportunity".

Meet the Members of the 2013 National Council on Disability

The National Council on Disability works to further equal opportunity, self-sufficiency, independent living, inclusion and full integration of people with disabilities into the civic, social, and economic fabric of American life.

Inclusion, Communication and Civil Rights

"Learning is easy when the teacher knows you can learn. " Henry Frost

ASAN President Ari Ne’eman on the DOE’s New Stance on Bullying Prevention

Comments from Autistic Self-Advocacy Network President Ari Ne’eman, delivered on August 20th, 2013 during a call with with stakeholders from the education and disability communities on the Department of Education’s new guidance on bullying prevention and IDEA. Presenters on the call included OSEP Director Melody Musgrove and White House Associate Director of Public Engagement Claudia Gordon.

How Will the Affordable Care Act Affect People With Disabilities?

The Thinking Person's Guide To Autism interviews Ari Ne'eman of The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network about specific advantages, opportunities, and sticking points of the Affordable Care Act for People with Disabilities

Inclusion is a right not a privilege.

Inclusion is not only socially just, but research shows it improves academic outcomes for all students.

  • White Rectangle With ASAN logo in left corner, large black text reads "ASAN " underneath smaller black text "Autistic Self Advocacy Network" . A narrow blue line separates the grey text that reads "Nothing About Us Without Us"

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization run by and for Autistic people.

  • a teenage light skinned boy with freckles, wearing a black jacket, blue and white striped sweater, pink collared shirt is standing in front of large columns and steps that lead to the Lincoln Memorial

Listen Up

Listen Up! the PSA from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and Autism Acceptance Month has been released!

  • Woman with brown hair and white skin holding a painting by Larry Bissonette.

Advice from Someone Who Has Been There

I love Larry Bissonnette- artist and disability rights activist. If you have seen Wretches & Jabberers or My Life as an Artist, or seen Larry present- I'm sure you are right there with me. His paintings are extraordinary, his words brilliant, and his wit and personality beyond wonderful. He is an exceptional person I feel privledged to call friend. We have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Larry; a weekend at our home in Tampa, a week in Vermont (where we were able to visit Larry's studio and watch him create his paintings) and numerous conferences

Henry’s Road to Inclusion Part 1

Henry met Tracy, Larry, Harvey Lavoy, and Pascal Cheng on June 9, 2011. It was a very special day, one that would change Henry's life forever.

Shatter the Myths About Autism

"No Myths". Must see PSA by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the Dan Merino Foundation. Change the conversation about autism.

  • boy wearing a turquoise tshrt that reads "Not being able to speak is not the same as not having anything to say" sitting on couch one hand on iPad one hand on his dog . The dog is yellow lab/golden mix .

Henry Frost on Inclusion on the Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Henry wrote about inclusion for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, read the entire article here. Ari Ne'eman, president of the ASAN, had an enormous impact on Henry's decision to speak out about his desire to attend his neighborhood school. "I met Ari at theAutism Summer Institute. I wrote to him about my school and he understood. He helped me advocate for my rights. ASAN helped with the petition. He is also autistic. He is also my friend. I did not read about a person who liked being in a separate school away from their friends learning cooking for life skills

Autism on CSPAN Washington Journal

Hi. My name is Henry Frost. I am a 13 year old Autistic self advocate. I agree with Ari Ne'eman. This is a civil rights issue. Communication and inclusion are basic civil rights. I made this video about civil rights. I made a FB page and petition so I could go to school in my neighborhood. Ari and ASAN helped me advocate. http://www.facebook.com/IStandWithHenry , change.org/henry People all over the world wrote this is a civil right. We want the same things in life. We are not so different. Please watch to understand how much we need support for

Inclusion in Tampa

' With a little help from his friends'. Henry's inclusion is truly a group effort led by this determined 13 year old self advocate .

14th Annual Autism Summer Institute August 6th -8th

Express Yourself: Supporting Communication through the Arts, Advocacy, and Education. Aug 6th -8th. Grappone Conference Center, 70 Constitution Avenue Concord, New Hampshire

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