This Autism Acceptance Month, we’re celebrating with a webinar to talk accessibility, autism acceptance, and dinosaurs! We’ll be joined by our special guests, Sue, the T. Rex, and their friends at the Field Museum. This webinar is happening April 23rd at 6:00 PM EST. Register here for our Autism Acceptance Month webinar with the Field Museum! CART will be provided. If you have other access needs or questions about the webinar, please email Jules Good, Programs Coordinator at mfelton@autisticadvocacy.org ..read more

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is proud to launch our Teighlor McGee Grassroots Mini Grants Program. This program was named after former ASAN staff member and activist, Teighlor McGee. Learn more about the program here ..read more

ASAN March Newsletter Dear friend, This month saw our community come together in different ways, from remembrance of those we’ve lost to fighting for our rights. Check out what we’ve been up to this month and what we’re planning for the month to come! This month began on a somber note, but we’re grateful for everyone who coordinated and attended vigils for our annual Disability Day of Mourning on March 1. It is vital that we come together and remember those we’ve lost to filicide in the last year. Even if you were not able to attend, you can still watch our virtual vigil here. ASAN welcomes th ..read more

For years, ASAN and our allies have been working to stop the electric skin shock torture being used on some residents of the Judge Rotenberg Center. We have another chance RIGHT NOW to stop this for good! Read on to learn more about the issue and how YOU can take action. People have been trying to get electric shock devices used by the Judge Rotenberg Center banned since they were first made. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the power to ban the electric shock devices used by the JRC. The next step in the fight to end the use of the electric shock devices is submitting public comment ..read more

Very little money donated to Autism Speaks goes toward helping autistic people and families. Less than 1/3 of 1% of Autism Speaks’ budget goes towards the “Family Service” grants that are the organization’s means of funding services. Autism Speaks spends more than 50x as much on fundraising. See the fact sheet here ..read more

These comments are available as a PDF here. Dear Chairman Casey and Ranking Member Braun, On behalf of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony on the importance of Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) to the disability community. ASAN is a 501(c)(3) advocacy organization run by and for autistic people. People with disabilities are among the last groups of Americans who are not protected by minimum wage laws. Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act creates a rare exception to the federal minimum wage. Through the 14(c) progr ..read more

ASAN is deeply troubled by reports made by The Washington Post this Tuesday that the CDC is planning to change its COVID-19 isolation guidelines. ASAN condemns the potential new guidelines, which would remove the five-day isolation period currently recommended after a positive test for COVID-19. Instead, people with a positive test result would not need to isolate if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medication.  ASAN has spoken repeatedly on the failures of the US government to respond adequately to COVID-19. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the end of the p ..read more

These comments are available as a PDF here. IACC’s Co-occurring RFI (January / February 2024) What are the most significant challenges caused by co-occurring physical health conditions in autistic people? (Examples of co-occurring physical health conditions: gastrointestinal disorders, sleep disturbances, epilepsy, sensory and motor challenges) We thank the IACC for the opportunity to comment. We would like to note that given the importance of these issues, it is unfortunate that the submission format for this RFI significantly limits respondents’ ability to provide thorough, meaningful comm ..read more

ASAN January Newsletter Dear friend, The new year may just be getting started, but we’ve been hard at work! Check out what we’ve been up to this month. You can start the year by sharing your voice and making your thoughts on autism research heard! You can submit your public comments to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) about autism research by February 14. This round of comments is specifically about priorities related to physical and mental health conditions that commonly co-occur with autism. Submitting public comments is an important way for self-advocates to make our nee ..read more

There’s lots of information being shared about contagious illnesses, including COVID-19 and Mpox. It can be overwhelming to keep up as new information becomes available. This can make it hard to understand what choices we should make to keep ourselves and each other from getting sick. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and Long COVID continues to affect many people. After the Public Health Emergency was ended in May 2023, there are fewer ways to track the number of cases.  Mpox is a kind of viral illness that people sometimes call “monkeypox.” Since 2022, there have been more cases of Mpo ..read more