Happy Women’s History Month! This March, AWN is proud to celebrate the many amazing autistic women and girls in our global community. We salute elders such as longtime cross-disability activist Anita Cameron; young adults such as Kayla “Being Me” Smith, founder of #BlackAutisticPride; and youth such as Paris and Riley Nelson, daughters of Natasha “Supernova Momma.” Reproductive and sexual health is a vital yet under-addressed issue that affects autistic women and girls in unique ways, and I am proud to be part of AWN’s work as a leader in reproductive justice. Recently, I co-authored an articl ..read more

My name is Kyara, and I started as a Communications Intern at AWN this January.  I first found AWN through a Social Movements course 3 years ago as an undergrad. From that point on, I have been enamored with the organization, and I’m particularly grateful for AWN’s work on healthcare access, racial justice, and intersectionality.  Being a Black woman with anxiety and depression, I have struggled for many years to find proper help and support. This in part comes from the pressure Black women and girls face to mask their problems in an attempt to appear strong. We are rarely allotted t ..read more

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I have had the pleasure of being Policy Fellow with the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network for the last five months. As my time with AWN and 2023 draws to a close, I wanted to share with you my reflections on the themes that connect my personal life to my work at AWN.  My experiences of ableism, maybe similarly to yours, can be summarized as a “no win” situation. Sometimes, society tells us we are not—and never will be—good enough. Then sometimes, society tells us we are good enough, but only because they see us as not like the ‘others.’ I have been put, against my will, into both cat ..read more

This Giving Tuesday I’m so happy to celebrate the release of AWN’s new ebook, A Neurodiversity and Gentle Parenting Journey…in Color. For much of 2023, Kayla Rodriguez and I, as Co-Chairs of AWN’s Executive Advisory Board, have been immersed in various tasks coordinating this new free online resource about neurodivergent parenting that is available in both English and Spanish, absolutely FREE of charge. This all began back in late 2022 when we were reflecting on the different projects AWN would be involved in during the year. We were saddened by the  lack of visibility in society of neuro ..read more

It’s my favorite time of the year!  Halloween is coming up soon, and for many Latine people like myself, it’s also close to Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). I love this season of spirits, spooks, and sweets. AWN also recently commemorated Indigenous People’s Day on October 9 and Latine Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15.   I published a post on AWN’s blog about Day of the Dead that talks about some of its Indigenous influences, Latin American history, and differences between how the holiday is currently celebrated in Mexico and Guatemala. As a Guatemalan-America ..read more

Hi, I’m Kayley Whalen, a Guatemalan-American trans and disabilities scholar, activist, and communications consultant for the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. I’m here to talk about Día de [los] Muertos, or “Day of the Dead” in Guatemala, and how the tradition is different from Day of the Dead in Mexico. Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1, aka All Saints Day in the Catholic calendar, and sometimes also on November 2, aka All Souls Day. And in both Mexico and Guatemala, it is a time to celebrate dead loved ones and ancestors. It’s a day when many believe the barrier between the s ..read more

The U.S. Gender and Disability Justice Alliance,[1] Women Enabled International (WEI),[2] the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network,[3] and  the Autistic People of Color Fund,[4]  appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the Human Rights Committee’s consideration of the U.S.’s periodic report to the Committee. Women and girls with disabilities account for approximately 16% of all women in the U.S.,[5] and although gender identity is not yet included in the U.S. Census, an analysis of the CDC’s 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System determined that 36 percent of LGBTQIA ..read more

AWN has been quite busy recently, and thank you for your patience while we worked to get our latest newsletter to you. Here at AWN we run on Crip Time, so sometimes that means that our workflow will unfold in a non-traditional way. This newsletter will combine updates looking back at August, and looking forward to September and October. We began August by welcoming our new Fall & Winter Policy Fellow, Nina Stoller. Nina is a pioneering voice in disability justice policy. Their work has included pushing for non-police responses to mental health crises, supporting formerly incarcerated ..read more

As a nonbinary trans woman, I know how hard-hit my community is with HIV — with trans women having HIV rates 66 times higher than the general population. That’s why I’m proud to be part of promoting a new study, LifeSkills Mobile, which is testing out an HIV prevention app for trans women and nonbinary femmes. And as the communications director for AWN, I’m also proud to announce a partnership between our two organizations to ensure the study reaches more trans and nonbinary people. AWN is committed to carefully vetting every study we partner with. LifeSkills Mobile is paid for by the National ..read more