Will You Join the Fight?

Dear Friends, This year was a year of hard fights. From the community petitions to support Neli Latson and Kayleb Moon Robinson - both Autistic Virginia residents who had been unfairly targeted by the criminal and juvenile justice systems - to the ongoing fight against so-called “mental health reform” legislation that would take away critical legal protections from many of our community, we have fought tooth and nail to make sure that our voices are heard.  We worked with Congress to introduce the Transition to Independence Act, which would reward states for moving people out of sheltered workshops and into integrated jobs.  We published a comprehensive guide to help autistic people and our families fight for interventions that can help people reach their own goals and build quality of life, instead of ones that are aimed simply at making us look and act more like non-autistic people.  We developed and tested a whole new resource on guardianship and supported decision-making laws in multiple countries - using language that is simple and accessible without sacrificing detail and depth. We partnered with Disability Rights Ohio, the National Federation of the Blind, and disability rights law firm Brown, Goldstein, & Levy to help an autistic man working in a sheltered workshop - as well as two of his co-workers - challenge the workshop’s policy of paying less than minimum wage for their hard work. We hope that this case will send a warning signal to other segregated workshops that often pay disabled workers pennies per hour.  But our work is not anywhere near finished. Not while autistic people are still warehoused in sheltered workshops that pay less than minimum wage, or isolated in so-called “community” settings that are really institutions with smaller buildings.  Not while autistic children and adults are denied access to the supports they need to communicate, learn, and make decisions about our own lives - and instead subjected to abusive “treatments” aimed at controlling us instead of helping us. Not while autistic youth like Kayleb are routinely harassed, arrested, jailed, and beaten by police due to stigma, prejudice, and lack of adequate law enforcement training. And not while autistic people and those with mental health diagnoses are routinely scapegoated for gun violence, even though we’re far more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrators. We can’t fight this alone. As a self-advocacy organization, we count on our Autistic community to guide us and contribute their voices, their time, and their support.  If you believe in our mission and the work that we do, please consider making a donation. As a small, lean non-profit, we stretch every contribution as far as we can. We are able to punch above our weight with the help of our network of chapters, volunteers, and allies.  Donate now, and help us keep Autistic voices are front and center. Nothing About Us Without Us! Regards, Samantha Crane Legal Director and Director of Public Policy Autistic Self Advocacy Network Donate to ASAN »   Become an ASAN member » Autistic Self Advocacy Network: PO Box 66122 | Washington, DC 20035 You are subscribed to Autistic Self Advocacy Network as elizabethdonnellan13234@gmail.com. Click here to unsubscribe