



There’s only a month left to apply for ACI!
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The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is now accepting applications for the 2017 Autism Campus Inclusion (ACI) Leadership Academy! The ACI summer leadership training prepares Autistic students to engage in disability advocacy on their college campuses. Accepted applicants will travel to Washington, DC and participate in advocacy training from June 10th to June 17th. Participants will acquire valuable skills in community organizing, policy advocacy, and activism. Travel and lodging are fully covered by ASAN.
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Applicants must identify as Autistic and be current college students with at least one year remaining before graduation. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network will cover travel and lodging costs for all ACI students. Students in TPSID programs (Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities), 2-year community colleges, 4-year colleges, and graduate school are eligible to apply. We especially encourage students of color, LGBT students, low-income students, students with intellectual disabilities, AAC users, and students from other or multiply marginalized communities to apply.
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To apply, please submit a completed application by Sunday, February 19th, 2017 to Reid Caplan at rcaplan@autisticadvocacy.org.
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View and download the application here!
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If you need assistance or accommodations at any stage, or have any questions about ACI, please contact Reid Caplan at rcaplan@autisticadvocacy.org
Download your application today!
Dear friends,
Less than two weeks ago, the Senate took the first steps toward repealing the Affordable Care Act. Since then, you’ve mobilized to defend our health care, calling Senate Committees and asking them not to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement plan in place – and it’s working. More and more Senators are starting to express their hesitation. But the people working to take health care away from 18 million Americans aren’t stopping – and neither should we.
Many lawmakers have mentioned a repeal-and-replace strategy — but the budget process Congress is using can only be used to repeal. Without a replacement plan in place, it’s estimated that at least 18 million Americans would lose their health insurance within the first year of the repeal.
We won’t give up our health care that easily. Here’s what you can do:
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Find out if either of your state Senators is on the Senate HELP Committee or the Finance Committee. Click here to see the members of the HELP Committee, and click here to see the members of the Finance Committee.
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If you have a Senator on one or both committees, they should be the primary target of your calls. Senators care a lot about hearing from the people from the state they represent. Find the number for your Senators’ offices here.
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If neither of your Senators is on either committee, you can call the office of the Chair and Ranking Member of each committee:
HELP Committee
Chair: Lamar Alexander – (202) 224-4944
Ranking Member: Patty Murray – (202) 224-2621
Finance Committee
Chair: Orrin Hatch – (202) 224-5251
Ranking Member: Ron Wyden – (202) 224-5244
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Here’s a script you can use:
Hi, my name is [Your Name] and I’m a constituent of Senator [Name]. I’m calling to ask Senator [Name] to preserve the Affordable Care Act during the budget reconciliation process. Specifically, I’m urging the Senator to defend Medicaid expansion and the premium tax credit. I’m also asking the Senator to take the words of [his/her] colleagues in the Senate to heart and figure out how to replace the ACA before starting to repeal it. Thanks for your time.
If you can’t use the phone, you can ask someone to call on your behalf. They can say, “I’m calling on behalf of [NAME,] who is a constituent of the Senator’s. [NAME] has a disability and isn’t able to make phone calls, but they want to ask the Senator to to preserve the Affordable Care Act during the budget reconciliation process. Specifically, they’re urging the Senator to defend Medicaid expansion and the premium tax credit. They’re also asking the Senator to take the words of [his/her] colleagues in the Senate to heart and figure out how to replace the ACA before starting to repeal it. Thanks for your time.
Dec
23
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Dear friends,
Today is my last day as ASAN’s President. It’s a bittersweet but exciting moment, as the organization transitions to its next leader, Julia Bascom.
It has been an extraordinary privilege to help build the political arm of the neurodiversity and self-advocacy movements. When ASAN first began ten years ago, the Autistic community lacked the means to translate our views into public policy. Today, we have changed that. Policymakers and civil society leaders must take our perspective into account – and know that when they fail to do so, ASAN will be there to fight back.
Not only have we helped to change the landscape of autism policy, but we have also worked to promote community inclusion for all people with disabilities. I am particularly proud of this cross-disability work. It reflects our fundamental belief that the values of inclusion, self-determination and dignity apply to every person. Whether it’s fighting to free our people from institutions or speaking out against those who devalue disabled life, we have fought to defend disabled personhood every single day – and will continue to do so, wherever we are.
Through advocacy successes like the CMS Home and Community Based Settings rule and ASAN’s successful policy advocacy and litigation activities to close sheltered workshops and expand integrated employment, we have made tremendous progress in opening up the community to all people with disabilities. More work remains to be done, but we have laid the foundation for a more inclusive future.
I want to thank all of you for the role you’ve played in building the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the neurodiversity movement into what it is today. When I founded this organization a decade ago, I could scarcely have imagined the extraordinary impact it would play in our national conversation on autism and disability rights. Your advocacy and support has made that possible – and I know it will continue to do so going forward.
I look forward to working with many of you in new adventures over the coming years, as we work to advance the great cause of disability rights. Please don’t hesitate to keep in touch. Going forward, I can be reached at ari@mysupport.com.
Thank you, and as always, Nothing About Us, Without Us!
Warm regards, Ari Ne’eman
P.S: I hope you’ll join me in wishing Julia the best possible start by making a contribution to support ASAN’s work in 2017. I know better than most how important every contribution is to keeping ASAN’s many activities going. If you’d like to give me a parting gift, please consider making a contribution to welcome in Julia’s new leadership. |
Dec
19
Wishing you a warm, wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
Love,
Julie
xx
Dear friends,
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Last week was a trying time for many who work for disability rights in America. Many of you share our deep concern with policy proposals put forward by the new President-elect, including deep cuts in the Medicaid funding that sustains the vast majority of supports to people with disabilities.Â
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Yesterday, we learned that President-elect Trump will be appointing Steve Bannon, former CEO of the “alt-right” media outlet Breitbart, to the position of White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor. What views on disability will the President-elect’s most senior advisor bring to the job? E-mails that came to light last month give us a clue.
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“I’ve got a cure for mental health issue[s]…Spank your children more,” wrote Bannon in an e-mail to another Breitbart staffer who had brought up recent congressional deliberations on mental health policy.Â
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That’s right. Donald Trump’s chief adviser believes that all people with psychiatric disabilities need is a good hard spanking.Â
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I wish I could say I was surprised.
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This is the same Steve Bannon known for spreading racist, misogynist and anti-semitic faux-news across the internet. The same Steve Bannon who faced domestic violence charges after law enforcement found red marks on the neck of his wife while responding to a “domestic disturbance.” The same Steve Bannon whose ex-wife reported that he didn’t want his daughters “going to school with Jews.”
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Of course we should know by now that people with disabilities won’t be exempt from this hate. When racism, anti-semitism and misogyny rear their ugly heads, ableism is never far behind. And so we have to be ready.
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These are trying times. When people like Bannon are elevated to positions of power within our government, it can feel like the sky is falling, that all the work and progress we’ve made over the last ten years is on the verge of collapsing before our eyes. And the situation is indeed very serious. But we’re still here – and we won’t stop fighting for our rights.
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If you can, consider making a recurring donation, so that we now we can count on your support every month as we defend our community. All your donations are helpful and appreciated – but our recurring donors help us all the more, since your contributions let us plan our efforts with a more complete knowledge of the available resources we can invest in the fight.
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I also understand and respect that not everyone can donate. Whether or not you can make a financial contribution, please consider ways you can fight for disability rights in your local community. Make sure your school board knows that you support educational inclusion – and will be watching to see how well they enforce children’s rights under IDEA. Speak up when you see an inaccessible building or a business turning away someone because of their disability. Discrimination thrives when we let it. And respond when you hear from us about the need to call your Member of Congress to urge them to vote against proposals to slash the safety net for people with disabilities. If we refuse to sit back and be silent, we can make a difference.
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Above all, please know that you are not alone. Our community is strongest when we come together. We don’t just fight together, we support each other. We stand with you.
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As always, thank you and Nothing About Us, Without Us.
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Sincerely,
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Ari Ne’eman
President
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
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The unnamed boy eventually made a full recovery. But doctors were still moved enough to warn consumers about the natural supplements.
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The US House of Representatives recently voted to pass the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015Â (H.R. 2646). Although disability advocates across the nation worked to make sure that many harmful provisions in the original draft of this bill were removed or modified, this bill still has many parts that would hurt our community by undermining privacy, promoting institutionalization over community-based services, and creating new committees with almost no self-advocate representation. |
But there’s still time to stop this. The harmful parts of H.R. 2646 will only become law if the Senate decides to add them to its own mental health bill, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 (S. 2680), or to insert them into some other Senate bill. Contact your Senators and tell them that you don’t want them to put these parts of H.R. 2646 into S. 2680 – or any other bill. We support S.2680 as currently passed and want the Senate to pass it the way it is, without adding language from H.R. 2646. Here are some talking points that you can use. Ask your Senator to keep this language from H.R. 2646 out of the Senate bills: |
 HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION  Contact your U.S. Senator’s office and ask your Senator to keep this harmful language out of the Senate mental health bills. We don’t want the Senate to support provisions that would limit the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities and add to stereotypes and misconceptions.Ask your Senator instead to support S. 2680 as it is. |
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Lindsey McGarry caught little Rex, who has autism, climbing onto the ledge of his bedroom window telling her he wanted to ‘escape his worries’
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They are the words that no parent expects to hear their child speak.
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But when Lindsey Morgan caught her eight-year-old son climbing onto the ledge of his bedroom window she was to discover the devastating reality that he wanted to end his life.
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“Being asleep is easier than being awake,” little Rex told her, explaining that he wanted to “escape his worries.”
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Rex, who has high-functioning autism , struggles to deal with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and finds being in a classroom especially difficult.
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Now aged nine, the youngster has almost entirely dropped out of school, as mum Lindsey, from Farnborough, Hampshire, claims the system is failing her son.
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Speaking exclusively to Mirror Online, Lindsey said five years ago Rex was brimming with excitement about starting his education.
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“As with most young boys, his behaviour occasionally gave teachers cause for concern, but my main worry was at home,” she said.
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Read More …
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boy-aged-8-tries-kill-8603634?ref=yfp
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Tell the FDA: Ban Electric Shock Torture of People with Disabilities  On April 22, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a proposed rule to ban the use of electrical shock devices such as those used at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts. ASAN has issued a statement with more information here. The FDA is currently taking public comments on the proposed rule.  ASAN is preparing its own comments, but we also need all self-advocates and allies to submit your own public comments! The JRC’s supporters will undoubtedly be submitting comments of their own; it is crucial that the voices of self-advocates, our allies, and all those who oppose the inhumane use of electric shock to control the behavior of people with disabilities be heard. We need to send the message that these shock devices cause real harm and are never “medically necessary.† To comment:  1. Go to  the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov 2. Enter the docket number  FDA-2016-N-1111 3. Follow the instructions to submit a comment. 4. You may also submit written public comment by mail to:  The Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061 Rockville, MD 20852.  We need your help to make sure that this proposed rule becomes an actual rule with real power. Below, we have some suggested language and scripts you can use in your public comments.  We can end the use of electric shock torture against people with disabilities in the United States. But we can’t do it without you. SEND IN YOUR COMMENTS TODAY.  Suggested Script:  [I, Name,] strongly urge the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with their proposed ban of electrical stimulation devices (ESD)s. Devices that deliver painful electric shocks pose an unreasonable and substantial risk of harm and have been the cause of incredible pain and suffering for people with disabilities. Their use is condemned by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture.  The FDA is allowed ban any medical device if it finds that the device presents a substantial and unreasonable risk of illness or injury. As the FDA notes in the proposed rule, there are and there have been countless adverse effects, both psychological and physical, of the use of these devices. There is no evidence that they are a valid or effective treatment. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the nation’s leading organization run both by and for Autistic people, has heard many firsthand accounts from people with disabilities who have had ESDs used on them. They report nightmares, overwhelming fear and anxiety, and traumatic memories associated with the use of these devices. Some have later developed psychiatric disabilities such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We have also seen records and videos from the only facility known to use the devices in the United States, the Judge Rotenberg Center, showing that these devices have frequently been used to abuse Judge Rotenberg Center residents. Although these devices can cause severe injuries, trauma, and distress even when used as intended, the potential for abuse poses yet another substantial and unreasonable risk.  [Write why the FDA’s ban is important to you in a few sentences to a paragraph here. The FDA may discard your comments without this.]  I therefore urge the FDA to ban these harmful devices without further delay and their use in the United States.  [End Script]  SEND IN YOUR COMMENTS TODAY! |
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Today, March 1st, is the 2016 Disability Day of Mourning – a day for disability communities, organizations, and groups around the country to gather and cherish the memories of those who we have lost to senselessness violence at the hands of those they should have been able to trust most. We gather to recommit ourselves to continue to strive to seek justice for these crimes so as to prevent them from ever occurring again.  In the past five years, over one hundred and eighty people with disabilities have been murdered by their family members.  These acts are horrific enough on their own. But they exist in the context of a larger pattern. A parent kills their disabled child. The media portrays these murders as justifiable and inevitable due to the “burden†of having a disabled person in the family. If the parent stands trial, they are given sympathy and  comparatively lighter sentences, if they are sentenced at all. The victim is disregarded, blamed for their own murder at the hands of the person they should have been able to trust the most, and ultimately forgotten. And then the cycle repeats.  Today, we gather, and speak the names of those taken from us. But in doing so, we do not just mourn. We kindle new hope, of the possibility of a better world, one in which disabled Americans are recognized as equal and disabled blood is not viewed as cheap and easy to spill. We remember our own – and in doing so, strengthen the bonds that make among us a common community, a common identity. These bonds strengthen and enstrengthen each of us, opening up the door to happier days and commemorations ahead. Today, our shared sorrow and mourning make us one.  ASAN asks you to join us today in this year’s vigils to bring awareness to the ongoing tragedy, and to demand equal rights, protection and justice for all citizens.  Ari Ne’eman  Julia Bascom  Current vigil sites and contact information can be found on the ASAN website. Â
Current vigil sites:
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Virtual vigil, for those unable to attend a local vigil
Savannah Logsdon-Breakstone, sbreakstone@autisticadvocacy.org USA ARIZONA Tucson, AZ CALIFORNIA Berkeley, CA Port Hueneme, CA Sacramento, CA DC Washington, DC GEORGIA Atlanta, GA ILLINOIS Chicago, IL MASSACHUSETTS Cambridge, MA Springfield, MA MINNESOTA Twin Cities, MN MISSOURI Kansas City, MO NEW HAMPSHIRE Hanover, NH NEW JERSEY Edison, NJ New Brunswick, NJ NEW YORK New York, NY Purchase, NY Rochester, NY Troy, NY Yonkers, NY NORTH CAROLINA Nashville, NC PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia, PA Pittsburgh, PA York, PA TENNESSEE Franklin, TN TEXAS Plano, TX VIRGINIA Blacksburg, VA Williamsburg, VA WISCONSIN Beloit, WI CANADA New Westminster, BC Winnipeg, MB |
