Take ASAN’S Pledge to Include Autistic Voices

Please join us and take The Autistic Self Advocacy Network's pledge to include Autistic voices in organizations, conferences and panels on autism. Would you support an organization that advocated for women or attend conferences about women if they failed to include women ? Of course not. Then, please, take a minute, sign this pledge and share widely. Join: Colin Meloy, Lead Singer, The Decemberists, Linda Walker Fiddle, Executive Director, Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Mike Elk, Labor Reporter, In These Times Magazine, Steve Silberman, Investigative Reporter and Author, Wired Magazine, Cecilia Breinbauer, Executive Director, Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders

What Good Does Autism Awareness Do? It Doesn’t

I know most people want to do the right thing and believe “Autism Awareness” helps. But it doesn’t and it is time for some blunt truths, it is past time to stop walking in circles and move forward with Autism Acceptance.

  • Image description. Hands holding up a white sign with pink text " I AM A STUDENT" Closed captioning text" I'm not the one who's lost with no direction, no"

I’m Not the One Who Is Lost

I am thinking you will understand more when you see the feeling . The feeling on my side.

  • A dark blue outline of a person with no distinguishable facial features curled up with arms resting on bent knees. Figure is surrounded by text that reads: "Am I okay? Am I really that different? Sometime I struggle. Do others struggle? Weaknesses? Strengths? Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. What makes me different? Are there others like me? I want to be me, and find what works for me. I am unique, and that is okay. I may have different needs, but I am not a burden."

Welcome to the Autistic Community

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the Autism Now Center have created "Welcome to the Autistic Community! " It is a must read for anyone who wants to learn about autism.

  • 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

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.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s Third Annual Gala Honoring Henry Frost and Dr. Anne Donnellan

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s third annual gala and celebration at the National Press Club is November 12th. Henry Frost is the recipient of the 2013 Award for Service to the Self Advocacy Movement. Dr.  Anne Donnellan  will receive the 2013 Outstanding Ally Award. Henry Frost is a young Autistic student and Florida native who launched a successful, nationally recognized campaign to gain access to the public school in his own neighborhood .The campaign, I Stand With Henry, collected thousands of petition signatures and supporters across multiple social media platforms expressing support for Henry’s right to an equal education. Henry won

Inclusion is a right not a privilege.

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

Seattle Children’s Hospital Pulls Bus Ads After Community Outrage

“Autism is a disability, but it is not a disease. It is not a life-threatening illness,” said Matt Young, co-leader of ASAN-WA. “The idea it’s a state to be wiped out has much negative impact on our lives.”

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Advocacy Groups Call for Autistic Teen’s Killers to Be Charged With Hate Crime

How does it make you feel when you hear a story about a mother killing her child? Does hearing that the child had a disability change how you feel? For some people, it does. It changes how they feel enough so that they'll start speaking as if they support the parent's actions, citing unbearable stress and lack of supports and not being able to take the pain to see of seeing a child with disabilities in pain. We heard the media and public talk about this in Canada when Robert Latimer put his 12-year-old daughter Tracy, who had cerebral palsy,

  • 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.

Must Have Autism E-book

Great e-book for Autism Acceptance Month !

Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay Stand Up for Inclusion

Presented and discussed will be the importance of inclusion and friendship for youth with disabilities. The cast and of the acclaimed feature documentary, Wretches & Jabberers will be joined by The National Center on Inclusive Education’s Mary Schuh, PhD, and Tampa advocate, 13 year old, Henry Frost.

April and Autism Acceptance at Tampa Theatre

Get your advocacy on. April and Autism Acceptance is in Tampa. The rock stars of disability advocacy- Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonnette- are back.

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