Autistic Self Advocacy Network: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 15:52, 5 November 2014
![]() ASAN logo | |
Founded | November 2006 |
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Founder | Ari Ne'eman and Scott Michael Robertson |
Type | 501(c)(3) |
Focus | Public policy |
Location |
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Method | Publications, policy advocacy |
Revenue | Grants and donations |
Website | Autistic Self Advocacy Network |
Neurodiversity paradigm |
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The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, or ASAN, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN holds that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which Autistic people enjoy the same access, rights, and opportunities as all other people, and that Autistic voices should be included in the national conversation about autism.
Services
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network provides community organizing, self-advocacy support, and public policy advocacy & education for Autistic youth and adults, as well as working to improve the general public's understanding of autism and related conditions. ASAN's mission statement says that Autistic people are equal to everyone else, and important and necessary members of society,[1] a concept called neurodiversity.
As opposed to the medical model of disability, ASAN supports the social model, which holds that negative attitudes and prejudices are the main factor in whether or not people are considered disabled, rather than objective flaws in their bodies or minds.
History
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network was founded in November 2006 by its current President, Ari Ne'eman, and current Board of Trustees member and Vice Chair of Development, Scott Michael Robertson.
ASAN's early work mostly focused on fighting the use of aversives, restraint and seclusion in special education;[2][3] in December 2007, they spoke out publicly against Autism Speaks,[4] and against the NYU Child Study Center's Ransom Notes ad campaign, which compared autism, ADHD, OCD and eating disorders to kidnappers holding children hostage. This counter-campaign[5] put ASAN on the public's radar and has been referred to as the neurodiversity movement's coming of age.[6]
National Branch and Local Chapters
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network has a national branch in Washington, DC, and numerous chapters across the United States. These chapters' focuses are diverse, but are all somehow focused on collaborative self-advocacy. These chapters often host social groups for Autistic people.
ASAN's chapters sometimes work collaboratively with the national branch on nation-wide projects; an example of this is Day of Mourning, an event on March 1 where local chapters of ASAN, as well as independent groups, host candlelight vigils in remembrance of disabled people murdered by their caregivers.[7]
Activism
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network promotes autism awareness and acceptance through public policy initiatives,[8] research reform and cross-disability collaboration, community outreach,[9] college advocacy,[10] publishing,[11][12] and employment initiatives.[13]
ASAN is the Autistic community partner for the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership In Research and Education (AASPIRE).[14] The AASPIRE project brings together the academic community and the Autistic community, in a research format called community-based participatory research, to develop and perform research projects relevant to the needs of autistic adults.
In 2012, ASAN began the annual Autism Campus Inclusion (ACI) Summer Institute,[15] a week-long workshop teaching Autistic students to engage in activism and advocacy on their campuses. The Loud Hands Project, a transmedia publishing effort for curating and hosting submissions by Autistic people about voice, has also been active during 2012, in the form of a Kickstarter campaign and an anthology, both founded and organized by Julia Bascom. The anthology Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking was published by ASAN in 2012.[16]
In April 2013, as part of Autism Acceptance Month – a counter-movement against the cure-focused Light It Up Blue and Autism Awareness Month movements – ASAN launched an Autism Acceptance Month web site.[17]
See also
References
- ^ ASAN: About
- ^ Testimony on Aversives & Restraints
- ^ ACTION ALERT: Autistic Six-Year-Old Charged With Assault
- ^ Comments at November 30, 2007 IACC Meeting
- ^ Tell NYU Child Study Center to Abandon Stereotypes
- ^ The "Ransom Notes" Affair: When the Neurodiversity Movement Came of Age
- ^ ASAN: Day of Mourning on March 1st
- ^ ASAN: Policy Advocacy
- ^ ASAN: Changing Perceptions
- ^ Navigating College homepage
- ^ ASAN: Books
- ^ ASAN: Reports and Brief Materials
- ^ ASAN: Employment
- ^ AASPIRE homepage
- ^ ASAN is Now Accepting Applications for the 2013 Summer Leadership Academy
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Loud-Hands-Autistic-People-Speaking/dp/1938800028/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374440414&sr=1-1&keywords=loud+hands
- ^ Autism Acceptance Month: About
External links
- Autism
- Activism
- Autism Rights Movement
- Dispositional beliefs
- Discrimination
- Prejudices
- Bioethics
- Health movements
- Disability rights
- Medical activism
- Neurodiversity
- Identity politics
- Social theories
- Medical sociology
- Sociological terminology
- Autism-related organizations
- Disability rights organizations
- United States disability organizations
- Health and disability rights organizations in the United States
- Autism in the United States
- 2006 establishments in the United States
- Organizations established in 2006