This week the ASAN staff have stepped in to help our dinosaur friends as they prepare for a visit from their friend Sue the T-Rex (more details below). We appreciate this chance to step back in and make this an Autism Acceptance Month to remember! As we prepare to look into the past with our guests, we can't help but reflect on this last year in policy work.

In collaboration with Drexel University, we organized the ARFU–Autism Research For US Symposium. This space allowed for the gathering of autistic self advocates, autistic researchers, and researchers who prioritize working with autistic community members to discuss future priorities for the community. This has led to our current work on creating a research agenda based off of the findings of this symposium.

We have also been working hard to #StopTheShock. For years, we have worked in coalition with our allies to ban the electric skin shock torture used on residents of the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC). JRC is an institution where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), mental health disabilities, and learning disabilities live. Their electric shock devices have been used to punish behaviors including stimming and taking off jackets. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just put out a proposed rule to ban the use of electric shock devices. The FDA is asking for public comments on the proposed rule. In response, we have published a plain language toolkit and held a webinar on how to write and make public comments on the use of electric shock devices. This toolkit is a great starting point to #StopTheShock. Many of you have already submitted public comments — thank you so much for your hard work!

With all this said, we would like to take this chance to thank our donors who make all of this possible. Monthly and single donations give us the ability to continue this work and we wouldn’t be here without you. To send a single donation, you can click here. As an extra perk to our new monthly donors for the month of April, you can receive a new dino-themed member's only shirt design — check it out below! You can get one for yourself this month by becoming a member at the Public Policy Pals level or above. This design won't stick around forever, so join today before it goes extinct!

Reminder! Tonight we will be celebrating all things dinosaur with a webinar starring our friends from the Field Museum and Sue the T-Rex! At 6:00pm ET, on April 23, Jeff Schroder from the Field Museum will be joining us to talk dinosaurs, museum accessibility, and autism acceptance! To attend the event, please pre-register. Pre-registering will give you:

• A reminder email for the event

• The opportunity to pre-submit a question for Q&A

CART will be provided. For additional accessibility needs or questions about the event, please email [email protected]. We’re excited for you to meet our friend Sue and learn more about dinosaurs!

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035

 

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