Dear friend,

April showers bring May flowers, and April fights bring us our rights! Read on for updates about what we’ve been up to this month and what is to come.

Unfortunately, this was an especially difficult month for our transgender siblings. Laws and regulations that seek to deny gender-affirming health care, threaten the rights of trans people to access necessary, often lifesaving care. A regulation introduced in Missouri also discriminates based on disability. It will create barriers to gender-affirming care for autistic people and people with mental health disabilities. ASAN condemns these and similar laws that aim to restrict the rights of all transgender folks. We will look for opportunities to fight against these restrictions, especially those that use disability as a justification, or that target people with disabilities. We stand with LGBTQ+ community organizations that are working to stop these measures in states.

This month saw the introduction of a Guardianship Bill of Rights Act that would protect important civil rights, make guardianship rarer, & other important steps towards ending guardianship. In our statement, we call on Congress to pass the Act without delay.

We hosted a two-day training on the Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule! This Rule is all about our right to receive services that are truly community-based and that respect our rights. The training prepared self advocates to inform people in their communities about the setting rule, and gave strategies on what to do if your state is not following the rule. If you missed the training, you can watch parts of it here!

We’re encouraging our community to write an opinion editorial (also known as an op-ed) for their local news! Op-eds are a way to ask people to do something, and show them why they should take action, using evidence. They are a powerful way to make your voice heard, and let people know what issues matter to our community. Learn more with our new blog post.

Structural racism is built into our systems—that means systems that are built racist, stay racist. That’s why it’s so important to talk about and actively work against structural racism. Our newest toolkit, “What is Structural Racism?” talks about how these systems have evolved and continue to harm people of color.

Through the support of a team of translators, we are happy that Welcome to the Autistic Community is now available in Spanish! Welcome to the Autistic Community is an introductory guide to autistic people’s history, community and our rights. Check out Bienvenidos a la Comunidad Autista and share widely!

As we wrap up another Autism Acceptance Month, we are honored and grateful to be a part of celebrating autistic culture and community. Acceptance is an action, and we’re here to help you take that action every day, even when Autism Acceptance Month is over. Whether that’s through accessible resources so everyone can understand information about issues that affect their lives or action alerts to provide key information and advocacy scripts, we work to give autistic people the tools we need for self-advocacy.

In solidarity and celebration,

The Team at ASAN