Join us for a special virtual edition of our annual celebration and fundraising event from Wednesday, November 17th through Friday, November 19th. We’re so excited to share the gala with disability community members and allies from across the country and around the world, who usually wouldn’t be able to attend in-person.

October is Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) Acceptance Month and we are thrilled to announce our Gala film screening, sponsored by Anthem! This year’s films center the perspectives and advocacy of AAC users.

This Is Not About Me: This Is Not About Me tells the story of Autism Campus Inclusion alum Jordyn Zimmerman. Growing up in an educational system that didn’t believe in her, it wasn’t until age 18 she finally met a team who gave her a tool that allowed her to communicate and advocate for other students. Once equipped with AAC and engaged in learning with her peers, she graduated high school in just a year. She went on to receive her Bachelor’s degree in Education Policy from Ohio University. She founded the Ohio University Sparkle Effect team and was recognized by the International Council for Exceptional Children with the “Yes I Can!” Award. Jordyn is currently pursuing her Master’s of Education at Boston College and remains committed to being a catalyst for change in the education system.

Filmed in an observational style, this film gives a glimpse into Jordyn’s daily life interweaved with visits to Jordyn’s schools and interviews with teachers that worked closely with her. Jordyn guides us through difficult moments in her childhood. Piece by piece, her story reveals how professionals misunderstood her and pushed her deeper into a broken education system. Despite this system, Jordyn thrived, but her story is not one in a million. There are thousands of students like Jordyn who have something to say.

LISTEN: LISTEN is a short film made by and with nonspeaking autistic people. In December 2020, the musician Sia publicly offered to fund CommunicationFIRST to make an introductory short to her new movie MUSIC. The short was intended to help humanize and spread awareness about real nonspeaking autistic people, who were left out of MUSIC, despite being the subject of the movie. After a team of nonspeaking and autistic people previewed MUSIC and provided feedback and recommendations to Sia on how to improve it, they received no response from her team. In early February 2021, CommunicationFIRST decided to move forward to produce a self-funded short by and with real nonspeaking autistic people, and to launch it on February 12, 2021, the MUSIC US release date. The film LISTEN is the result. 

Content note: This film contains graphic descriptions of restraint and seclusion.

People Like Me: Created by Autism Campus Inclusion alum Marrok Sedgwick, People Like Me challenges Western biomedical perspectives on autism that frame autistic people as in need of treatment and cure, and applied behavior analysis (ABA) as the optimal treatment for autism. Non-speaking autistic adults assert the richness and beauty of autistic culture, and describe ABA as abuse and torture. Blurring the line between ethnography and cultural document, this film pushes for a different vision of the future for autistic people.

People Like Me is an experimental essay film that challenges dominant perspectives about non-speaking autistic people. When non-speaking autistic people become the authors of their own words through the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices such as a letterboard, text to speech machine (aka "talker"), or the film camera itself, they paint a picture of a vibrant community struggling against repressive systems that would attempt to control everything they have to say. People Like Me is an assertion of the humanity of all, and the rights of one of society’s most marginalized communities to be given the tools they deem necessary to participate fully.

We are so thankful to Anthem for sponsoring these film screenings and hope you can come watch with us!

Gala tickets are donate-what-you-can, but no donation will be required to attend our virtual events. Proceeds will support our continued advocacy work and programs for the coming year, and allow us to continue working to empower disabled people across the country. If you’re able, please consider donating to support our work. If you’re unable to donate, that’s okay — we’re excited for you to celebrate with us!

Stay tuned for honorees and other programming announcements in the coming weeks. 

Remember to RSVP to our Facebook event and invite your friends! We’re excited to celebrate together.

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035

 

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