Dear Friends,
 The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is a small organization with a large mission: empowering Autistic people throughout the country and helping our community stand up to those who want to silence us.  That’s a hard task, but it has to be done. Without a strong, Autistic-led voice defending our rights, many of the advances the Autistic community has made over the last several years wouldn’t be happening. This has been an important year for ASAN’s work.  When an Autistic teenager was kicked off a flight due to her disability, ASAN led the response, securing new guidance from the Department of Transportation protecting the rights of Autistic airline passengers.  When people with disabilities are segregated in sheltered workshops and kept out of the workforce, ASAN fights back. We’ve successfully worked with our legislative champions to introduce bi-partisan legislation, the Transition to Independence Act, which will reward states for increasing the number of people with disabilities in integrated workforce.  When people with intellectual disabilities face discrimination in allocation of scarce medical resources, ASAN is there, working to secure equal rights. This year, we passed a new law in Maryland prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in accessing organ transplants.   We’re not just responding to crises as they happen. We are working pro-actively to set the stage for long term change for Autistic people and our families. This year, with the help of our generous supporters, we continue to push forward the disability rights movement.  We have worked with state advocates to promote new laws to keep people with disabilities out of guardianship and help create structures for decision-making support that don’t take away the legal rights of those who need assistance.  We have continued our leadership development programming, supporting the training of a new generation of Autistic and disabled leaders on college campuses and local self-advocacy groups.  We have launched new resources on improving housing, education and healthcare opportunities for Autistic children and adults, and worked with local advocates to make them available across the country.   Thank you, and as always, Nothing About Us, Without Us!  Warm regards, |