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Dear friend,
We’ve been busy this month diving into policy and preparing for the work to come. Check out what we've been working on this month!
This month sailed by in a flash, and we’re grateful to everyone who joined us for our Whale Acoustics event! In honor of our Whale Well Wishers members, we’ve been celebrating our cetaceous friends all August long. We’re wrapping up the month and saying goodbye to some of our favorite aquatic creatures, but we had to send them off with a splash. We invited whale acoustics expert Julianne Wilder to come talk to us about all the ways researchers are scoping out sound in the ocean. If you want to become a member at our Whale Well Wisher tier or any of our other special interest themed tiers, you can do that here! Thanks for being a part of our pod — we couldn’t do this work without you.
Late last month, we submitted comments on the National Institutes of Health Request for Information on Sexual & Gender Minority Health Research. Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations have always included autistic people & those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), yet our existence is not adequately reflected in SGM health research. Instead, autistic SGMs, particularly those of color, are excluded from & mistreated in clinical & research settings, resulting in adverse health outcomes. Autism alone does not create these disparities. To start closing the gaps, NIH’s strategic plan for SGM health research must replace “ability status” with the more precise “disability status.” The plan must also expand its “sexual and gender minority subpopulation” to include SGMs with IDD & SGMs of color with IDD. You can read the full comments here.
We’re gearing up for Disability Voting Rights Week next month! From transportation to infrastructure to school funding, mayors, city councils, school boards and other elected officials are responsible for important decisions in our lives. There are over 38 million people with disabilities who are eligible to vote, but access barriers keep many disabled voters from accessing their right to vote. Disability Voting Rights Week is all about protecting the rights of people with disabilities to participate fully in our democracy! Get registered to vote, check your registration status, or apply for your mail in ballot using our tool here. We’ll be sharing plenty more information and resources, so keep an eye out!
There is still so much to be done for our community, but your continued support makes our work this month — and every month — possible. We're grateful for the opportunity to keep working for change together!
Sincerely,
The Team at ASAN
- Alongside other organizations, we commented in support of a revision to the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual to create a new code for direct support professionals (DSPs).
- We signed on to a National Low Income Housing Coalition letter in support of the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, which would permanently authorize the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
- ASAN signed onto a letter from the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and Disability Rights California letter condemning mask bans and urging lawmakers not to adopt them to protect the right of people with disabilities to participate in the community safely during the ongoing pandemic.
- ASAN signed onto a letter from the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD) calling for the reauthorization of the Autism CARES Act.
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