#autistic self advocacy network

[autisticadvocacy]

ASAN strongly believes that all transgender people should have access to gender-affirming care, and we are deeply troubled by any use of autism as a justification for transphobic efforts that would create barriers to care.

[turrettarot]

🔹Donation Announcement!🔸

The Turret Tarot is excited to announce that all proceeds will go to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN).

[wellspokenrambler]

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!! 

 I will be streaming next week to raise money for the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network! The stream is at 4:30PM BST on the 27th April, and I'll be aiming to get EVERY ACHIEVEMENT in Outer Wilds in ONE STREAM!   https://tiltify.com/@wellspokenrambler/outer-wilds-asan The donation page is live now if you want to start supporting ASAN  early, but I've got some fun rewards lined up for the day of! Perks include: 

inverted controls! 

party hats! 

"marshmallow time"! 

 And many more! 

 ASAN do really important work in elevating the voices of autistic people in every space they can, and I'm proud to support them as an autistic person myself. So come on down and help them out - by actively making my goal harder! 

See you then ;;) 

 (it is also my birthday! what better way to celebrate than to raise money for a good cause and be debatably good at video games)

[massiveharmonytiger]

Hey, guys. I’m sharing a page with a collection of links for the Stop the Shocks campaign, which aims to ban the inhumane use of electroshock devices on autistic people (yes, it’s still being done). I’m also sharing an article from ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network) from 14 July 2022 to show you guys just how recent this piece of news is. Now, I don’t live in the US as I’m sure is true for quite a few of you, but I’ve added my signature to the petitions and I’ll be doing what I can from where I am, because this is something that I care deeply about. I sincerely ask you all to also do what you can, no matter how small or pointless it seems. Please. Every bit of advocacy helps and is appreciated.

I’m also adding the link to autistic advocate and current candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates, Lydia X. Z. Brown who has an archive of the JRC (Judge Rotenberg Center’s) abuses. The JRC (a residential school for autistic children and adults) continues to use electroshock devices despite its brutality and all the campaigns against this practice.

https://linktr.ee/StopTheShock?fbclid=IwAR0NalLLZmQnRBdQq7CuGdoRVulX8kscbkoKLbHzovYXTHKOYcj5suWfui8

https://autisticadvocacy.org/2022/07/a-letter-of-support-for-legislation-banning-electric-stimulation-devices/

https://autistichoya.net/

[asd-social-media-assignment]

"For Whose Benefit?: Evidence, Ethics, and Effectiveness of Autism Interventions" by ASAN

There are a plethora of therapies for autism. However, autistic people are rarely consulted on creating and shaping these therapies. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) discusses this topic in their paper, "For Whose Benefit?: Evidence, Ethics, and Effectiveness of Autism Interventions." This paper is free to read online, and will be linked below. But first, this post will highlight some of the key points directly from the paper (all language below belongs to ASAN and is not my wording).

Some of ASAN's “Never Acceptables and Red Flag Practices to Avoid":

Deeming a trait or behavior “desirable” or “undesirable” based on whether it is typical of people of a certain age.

Conflating impairments in areas like speech or motor skills with the absence of internal processes and feelings.

Teaching autistic children to assume that their viewpoint or way of being in social situations is wrong.

Social skills training that encourages autistic people to merely “act neurotypical” rather than presenting neutral information for navigating social interactions.

A goal of indistinguishability, or making the autistic person appear “normal” or exactly like their non-autistic peers.

Using basic needs (for example, food, drink, toys, favored objects, breaks, change of activity, attention, special interests) as rewards or withholding as punishments.

Using “exposure therapy,” or teaching autistic people to “tolerate discomfort” in and of itself, as opposed to giving us tools to self-regulate, helping us reduce and control exposure to painful stimuli, or changing our environment to reduce exposure to triggers.

Some of ASAN's "Principles for Research into Autism Therapies and Services":

Therapies and services must be developed and researched with autistic people as part of the core research and development team.

Intervention research should address the autistic person’s experience of the intervention, including their internal experiences and well-being alongside external/visible behaviors and reactions.

Practitioners of an intervention should take criticism of that intervention seriously, especially when that criticism comes from autistic people who have gone through the intervention.

Research into autism services should prioritize developing best practices for working with autistic people who are currently the most poorly served by existing services: non-speaking autistic people and autistic people with intellectual disabilities, especially people in those groups who have co-occurring mental health disabilities or who may struggle with self-injury or aggression.

The creators, practitioners, and professional associations of developmental therapies and other alternatives to ABA should prioritize rigorous, high-quality research of their services.

Autistic Self Advocacy Network. (n.d.). For whose benefit?: Evidence, ethics, and effectiveness of autism interventions. https://autisticadvocacy.org/policy/briefs/intervention-ethics

[is-the-autism-platform-ethical]

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network- ASAN

My rating- Proceed with caution

While perfect in all other regards, ASAN follows multiple ableist accounts, such as National Autism Society and the Global Autism Project, on social media. This could be a matter of them not looking closely as they have been openly critical of the ideals these places push, but I remain skeptical and advise you to proceed with caution.

[relaybeacon]

Awareness to Pride: The Evolution of Autism Symbols from 1963 to Today by Amber Johnson

A LinkedIn connection reposted this to their page, and I found it so educational that I wanted to link it here!

[bookquotesfrombooks]

“First the world says not to let autism ‘define you.’ Now, all of [a] sudden, when I need help, I have to prove to people that I am autistic.”

Kayla Smith

“I Wish I Wasn’t So Hard On Myself Back Then”

Published in Sincerly, Your Autistic Child

[crimeronan]

ok so I saw ur last poll and I was like well hey I love to touch every fabric in the store and I'm not autistic but then I remembered a bunch of my friends both autistic and not have been telling me they think I'm autistic lately and one of my fall backs has been how I don't have common issues like hypersensitivity so obvs I can't be autistic but I literally didn't know hyposensitivity was a thing until the anxiety google spiral I was just on and long story short your oc poll may be dragging my ass to a psychologist bc I'm relating a little too hard to these adult autism diagnosis articles 👍🏻

SHRIEK. this ask actually taught me something too because i'd never heard the word hyposensitivity before but this is Also me.

(AND part of why i too thought i wasn't autistic for ages. i was like "i'm just a really enthusiastic ally bc of my very autistic brother but i'm So Allistic For Real" and vi's mom - who is also autistic - just looked at me and bluntly said "....no. you aren't")

i seek out soft/nice textures and extra weight and very loud hard rock/metal music and general weird touch to feel connected to the world. and i'm very annoying personality-wise in ways that other ppl have clocked from a million miles away for ages

anyway autism can indeed involve a lot of unusual sensory experiences & delight in certain textures! you also don't need a diagnosis to ID as autistic per the autistic community, you can use whatever language and whatever resources you want, it's all good. but if you Want to pursue a diagnosis for personal edification or for structural support that is extremely valid 💕

[autisticadvocacy]

https://autisticadvocacy.org/2023/10/october-update-23/

It’s the most boo-tiful time of year, but we’re still fighting some of the scariest things our community deals with, like discriminatory health care systems, subminimum wage, and lack of supports. Here’s what we’ve been working on this month.

[monriatitans]

Autism Speaks is the most popular autism research organization in the U.S. They have support from loads of autism moms and people who work with autistic kids. But they’ve had a very controversial past with attempts to raise awareness like the infamous “I Am Autism” and “Autism Every Day” videos. But they’ve also been criticized for using the puzzle piece logo, promoting applied behavioral analysis (ABA) and searching for the cure to “the autism epidemic.” Today we’re going over the many reasons (past & present) that Autism Speaks is trash. ___________________________________________________________________________________ 

I made a couple mistakes in the most recent video. 

I criticized Universal Healthcare + some people thought I meant I don’t support it at all. I am a socialist at minimum and in full support of universal healthcare. I left out the context of UK Do Not Resuscitate Orders on disabled people. I for some reason assumed everyone would know what I was talking about, and because of that I said it in a very misleading way. Firstly, the UK was accused of putting several disabled (autistic/learning disabilities) people on DNRs specifically in 2020/2021 during covid. Leaving that out made it seem like a current thing, I apologize for that. Secondly, this only allegedly happened. According to this report https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/wp... several disabled people responded to a survey saying they were put on DNRs or asked to sign them (when they shouldn’t have been). But we only have their word. It is not an objective fact that this happened, it’s just what disabled people say they experienced. The English NHS clarifies that this is not supposed to happen in this statement,https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronaviru... and says any of those questionable DNRs from 2020/21 were put under review. I apologize for not making that clear. I said Autism Speaks worked with Sesame St on creating Julia, which they didn’t. Autistic Self-Advocacy Network worked with them to create Julia, then left when Autism Speaks got involved later. The only mother in the video I was calling a bad parent was the one who talked about wanting to k*ll her daughter. The rest was a criticism of how autism speaks, framed the video, edited it, and what prompts they gave the moms to talk about. I should have made that more clear. 

Thank you for all of the support on the video, and especially thanks to the commenters who pointed out these flaws. This correction will appear as a pinned comment on the original video, a community tab post, and in the description of the video. ________________________________________________ 

BETTER ORGANIZATIONS: Autistic Women & Non-binary Network Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered Autistic People of Color Fund Autistic Self-Advocacy Network https://communicationfirst.org/ _________________________________________________________________ 

SUPPORT ME: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foster.the.... Cash App: https://www.cash.app/$fosterthefrog _________________________________________________________________ 

SOURCES: Autism Speaks Founders: https://www.autismspeaks.org/our-founder Autism Speaks Mission: https://the-art-of-autism.com/autism-... Autism Speaks Q&A: https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-s... Daughter’s Death Puts focus on toll of Autism: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...   Autism Speaks Budget: https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/ Autism Genome Project: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16078... Forced Sterilization in the US: https://lawblogs.uc.edu/ihrlr/2021/05... Ivar Lovaas Feminine Boy Project: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article Non-Speaking Autistics on ABA Therapy: https://autisticstrategies.net/nonspe... Autism Speaks Interventions: https://www.autismspeaks.org/interven... Cure Autism Now: https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/fea Autism Speaks & AGRE: https://www.autismspeaks.org/about-agre Autism Genetic Research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... Autism Speaks Research: https://www.autismspeaks.org/research Videos: Autism Every Day:   • Autism Every Day   I Am Autism:   • I Am Autism comme...   I Am Autism Transcript: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/09/...

[qbdatabase]

This book is about what it means to be a part of the autistic community. Autistic people wrote this book. Some autistic people are just learning about their autism. We wanted to welcome them and give them a lot of important information all in one place.

This book talks about what autism is and how it affects our lives. It talks about our history, our community, and our rights. We wrote this book in plain language so that more people can understand it.

We wrote this book for autistic people, but anyone can read it. If you are not autistic, this book can help you support autistic people you know. If you are wondering whether you might be autistic, this book can help you learn more. If you are autistic, think you might be autistic, or if you want to better understand autistic people, this book is for you.

Welcome to the autistic community!

(You can also download a PDF of this title for free from the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network who published it!)

[thelooneyturtle]

Color Communication Buttons!

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) made an amazing set of symbols that make it easier than ever to express yourself in a visual way!

Green: Come say hello!

If someone is wearing the green badge then it means that they are open and willing to talk to people at conventions, public events, or social gatherings.

Yellow: Be careful...

Someone wearing the yellow badge is communicating that they only want to talk to close friends. People who are not friends can still approach with caution, but need to be understanding if they aren’t willing to talk.

Red: Stop!

When you see someone wearing a red badge, it’s best not to interact with them. They are only willing to talk to friends who are in their closest support group or “Red list.”

Now available on my Etsy

[helenwhiteart-blog]

Who I am, how I choose to live; an autistic reappraisal, one year in

Who I am, how I choose to live; an autistic reappraisal, one year in

As I reach the end of another year, my 54th so you would think my conclusions would be getting somewhat familiar by now, its interesting to note how much I really do feel I have rebooted my life and entered new territory in the past 12 months so there is actually nothing predictable about my end-of-year reappraisal at all. This is largely because I have fully, finally, accepted and integrated…

[drchucktingle]

GREETINGS BUCKAROOS as you may have heard CAMP DAMASCUS is nominated for a bram stoker award this year. this is biggest literary award in horror and i am so deeply moved by this recognition. thank you horror writers association you have proven so much love to me. i feel especially moved as an autistic buckaroo writing an explicitly autistic lead character

when things like this happen there is suddenly a LOT of attention on authors and books and that is so wonderful. as you know i am always looking for ways to PROVE LOVE IS REAL and DIRECTING this kind of attention towards good causes can often be a powerful maneuver

with that in mind i have written a new 'no sex' tingler, NOT POUNDED BY MY HANDSOME SENTIENT STOKER AWARD NOMINATION FOR CAMP DAMASCUS BECAUSE THE TWO OF US ARE TOO BUSY CELEBRATING THE FACT THAT A STORY WITH AN AUTISTIC LEAD CHARACTER BY AN AUTISTIC AUTHOR MADE THE SHORTLIST FOR A MAJOR LITERARY AWARD AND NOW WE’RE DONATING SOME MONEY TO AUTISTIC SELF ADVOCACY NETWORK.

instead of hosting on amazon, this tingler is FREE to read and download on chucks patreon, with a suggested donation of 3 dollars to AUTISTIC SELF ADVOCACY NETWORK, a fantastic organization that works to help autistic buckaroos, and to support the wide, unique range of this experience. i have chosen three dollars because that is what i usually sell tinglers for, but you can donate as much or as little as you like. if you cannot afford donation at this time that is just fine bud, enjoy this book on me

thank you so much for trotting along on this journey, we have come so far together and i am overwhelmed with gratitude for the buckaroo community, for each and every one of your own unique ways that create this beautiful whole. step by step we are SHAPING AND BENDING the timeline towards love TOGETHER, and there is no sign of slowing down.

so enjoy this tingler, donate if you can, and thank you again to horror writers association for this incredible honor. LOVE IS REAL LETS HECKIN TROT

----

When the Stoker Award nominations are announced, Chuck Tingle’s feelings are complicated. He’s honored and thankful to be considered for such a prestigious award, with all this new attention comes new forms of anxiety. In Chuck’s case, that means a whole team of paparazzi dinosaurs kicking down his door and flying through his windows.

Now Chuck’s on the run, but a chance encounter with a horror legend helps Chuck realize that it’s okay to be himself despite all this newfound pressure. Being himself is exactly what got him here in the first place.

This important tale is 4,000 words of sexless love and appreciation between Chuck Tingle and his kind and generous Stoker Award nomination.

----

READ THE TINGLER HERE

[todayontumblr]

Tuesday April 11.

Autism Acceptance Month.

Today is Tuesday, April 11, which means we are eleven days into the 30 blessed days of #autism acceptance month, 2023 (previously known as #autism awareness month). April is the month and April 2nd is the day—World Autism Day, to be precise—and these first weeks of spring are a time for uplifting autistic voices of all identities, advocating for acceptance, progress, and sharing in the community's joy. It began back in 1972, as National Autistic Children’s Week, and was founded by The Autism Society to raise awareness and campaign for change in communities, schools, medical facilities, and businesses. And this same vital, wonderful work continues today, and not just for the month of April, of course—but every day of every year. The lived reality is that every day of every month is Autism Acceptance Month, and it is on all of us to do better.

Progress has been made, but there is still so much to be done in the struggle for equality and justice for all those living under the broad church of autism. And if these words sound hollow, then simply read the moving story of Debra Vines, of The Answer Inc., and of her autistic son Jason. She articulates everyday struggles that families can face, and the many joys they experience, too. Her message is simple, but powerful: don't give up on milestones.  

Want to know more, get involved, or donate? Here is just some of an impressive selection of charities sourced by the fine people at the Applied Behavior Analysis Programs Guide, where you can find the complete list of 20 charities and organizations:

The Asperger/Autism Network

The Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network

Autism Research Institute

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network

The Autism National Committee

Happy Tuesday, folks, and here's to better.