Dear friends,

It has been the honor of my life to have spent the last 12 years working for ASAN, and the last 7 serving as our Executive Director. At our virtual gala, I spoke about the state of our movement, and the achievements your advocacy has made. You can read my remarks here.

With your help, we have worked to make the disability community a political force to be reckoned with. In my time at ASAN, we have fought and won numerous policy battles, including:

• Saving Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in 2017, and fighting to keep them both alive and working

• Challenging the use of restraint and seclusion in Fairfax County Schools, and fighting for an end to the use of restraint and seclusion across the country

• Successfully ending pandemic triage guidelines in states that told doctors not to save people with disabilities

• Demanding we keep the promise of Olmstead

Sometimes the fight for disability rights is easy to see as a glorious struggle; other times, it is a long, slow slog of harm reduction and basic defense. Either way, we have to show up. Whether that looks like working with your local self advocacy group, sharing resources about the issues impacting our lives, or helping to keep ASAN’s work going — it all matters, and it all counts.

I know our community will keep showing up for the next generation of autistic kids every day, and I know ASAN will keep doing everything in our power to give our community new tools to demand justice and meaningful change. As I hand over the reins, it’s clear that there’s more work to be done — and that our community is ready to lead the way. Thank you. Keep showing up.

With gratitude,
Julia Bascom
Outgoing Executive Director

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035

 

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