Dear John,

A white woman with short brown hair looking at the camera and smiling. Sam has on a red shirt and black, thick-framed glasses. [[link removed]]

All disabled people deserve equal access to COVID-19 treatment, free from discrimination or biases that could threaten our lives. At the start of the pandemic, many states had discriminatory policies that said disabled people were lower priority for live-saving treatments like ventilators. We let them know that we will not stand for ableist health care rationing -- and that stance has meant more life-saving care for people with disabilities battling COVID. Your support [[link removed]] helps us stay strong against those who want to harm our community.

Here’s some of what we’ve been able to help change, thanks to your support:

- Establishing guidelines for how to avoid disability discrimination [[link removed]] in COVID-19 treatment
- Creating a rubric for state advocates [[link removed]] to measure against and see if their state policies were harmful to disabled people
- Creating a tracker [[link removed]] to document the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities in congregate settings
- Signing onto a statement demanding changes [[link removed]] for people in congregate settings, who are dying from coronavirus at higher rates than the general population
- Collaborating with other organizations to release a video [[link removed]] and a plain language toolkit [[link removed]] providing accessible information so everyone can understand how to stay safe from COVID-19

This work is vital to making sure that we understand how the pandemic is impacting our community, and how we can ensure equal access to care. It is only possible thanks to your help. Because of your donations, we have been able to meet the challenges of 2020 with fierce advocacy for our community. No matter what 2021 brings, we’ll be there fighting for the rights of people with disabilities -- will you join us in the fight? [[link removed]]

We know that this year has taken a toll on a lot of us financially, so if you are unable to give, that’s ok! There are lots of other ways you can help, like sharing our resources [[link removed]] or getting the word out about our work on social media [[link removed]] . Another great way to support us today is with a Facebook fundraiser [[link removed]] ! They’re easy to set up and share with your friends [[link removed]] , and you don’t have to contribute yourself if you’re not able to.

As always, we remain grateful for your advocacy. We will continue working hard alongside you.

Sincerely,
Sam Crane
Legal Director & Director of Public Policy
Autistic Self Advocacy Network


Autistic Self Advocacy Network
PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035
United States
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