As we close out disability pride month, passing the thirtieth anniversary of the ADA, we recognize that we still have a long way to go to reach the full promise of liberation for the disability community. This month, ASAN has been working to move us closer to fulfilling that promise through advocacy and action. 

We teamed up with Little Lobbyists, the Center for Public Representation, the American Association of People with Disabilities and The Arc to start Disability Policy Call-In Wednesdays,  pushing the Senate to pass a COVID 19 relief package with emergency funding for home and community-based services, as well as a strengthened Justice in Policing Act. Call-In Wednesdays continue — sign up to participate on our Facebook event page! 

While fighting for increased HCBS funding, ASAN has also condemned the administration’s delay of the Home and Community-Based Settings Rule, which is designed to keep disabled people in our own homes and out of institutions. We joined with organizational partners to challenge discriminatory COVID-19 plans in Texas and Arizona, both COVID hotspots with care rationing plans that could deny treatment to people with disabilities. We also released statements in support of Matthew Rushin and Neli Latson, two Black autistic young men who have faced systemic discrimination in the criminal system.

This month was also a key time for our grassroots to make their voices heard, by getting registered to vote during National Disability Voter Registration Week. To help get the word out about how important voting is, we released a new series of videos with NDRN and shared our updated voting resource page. In addition to those resources, ASAN recently released a new Easy Read toolkit, “A Self-Advocate’s Guide to the Americans with Disabilities Act,” an accessible explainer of the landmark civil rights law. We also launched a new way for our community members to support us and get perks in return, with our new membership program. 

There is so much work left to do in order to dismantle systemic inequality for people with disabilities—and for all marginalized people. But there are also so many ways that all of us can get involved in that work and move toward a more just world, one action at a time. This month, we saw so many of our community members doing that work: participating in our call-ins, registering to vote, learning and sharing resources, supporting one another, and so much more. We’re honored to be in this fight alongside you. Let’s keep it up next month!

In solidarity,

Zoe Gross
Director of Operations
Autistic Self Advocacy Network

P.S. If you haven’t filled out the census yet, now is a great time! To learn all about the census and why it matters to people with disabilities, check this out!