Join us [[link removed]] for a special virtual edition of our annual celebration and fundraising event every Tuesday in November! 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. The events have begun, and we hope to see you next week at our panel, “As If Your Life Depends on It” Voting and the Disability Community [[link removed]] .
Today, we’re happy to announce several more new awards to recognize the work of self-advocates and allies of our community!
Receiving our Creating Community Together Award is Natasha Nelson
A photo of Natasha Nelson. She is smiling and standing against a gray background. She has brown skin and maroon locs that fall to her shoulders. [[link removed]]
Natasha Nelson is a Certified Positive Discipline Educator (CPDE), veteran, military spouse, small business owner and Autistic mother to two autistic Black girls. Natasha has over seven years of exemplary leadership in the United States Army, over 5 years using Positive Discipline, and over a decade of experience in public speaking, community service, and facilitating in and out of the military. Natasha's small business Supernova Momma LLC. is an education resource for Black and Neurodiverse families to break generational curses from systemic racism and ableism in households, schools, and offices to receive support in a mutually caring, empathetic, and respectful environment. Natasha prides herself on making Positive Discipline, gentle parenting, and Conscious Parenting accessible and relatable specifically to Black and/or Neurodiverse Families with her NEED system: Network, Educate, Empathize, Demonstrate. One of the products of this system is Natasha's The Cool Calming Corner, a Time-In printable poster set that features Black and/or multicultural children of different shades and hair styles, and teaches them emotional intelligence and coping strategies through a love of hip hop.
We’re also happy to announce that We Move Together is receiving the Harriet McBryde Johnson Award for Nonfiction!
A digital illustration of the authors and illustrator of We Move Together, Anne McGuire, Kelly Fritsch, and Eduardo Trejos in a row together in front of a grey background. All three creators have dark hair and wear glasses. Anne has pale skin and wears a striped shirt with dark pants. Kelly has light brown skin and wears a purple shirt. Eduardo has brown skin and wears a dark green shirt. Anne and Eduardo stand behind Kelly, who is seated on a scooter with a cat in her lap. The three of them smile out at the audience. [[link removed]]
We Move Together is a bold and colorful exploration of all the ways that people navigate through the spaces around them and a celebration of the relationships we build along the way. A 2022 silver medal recipient for the International Latino Book Awards' Best Educational Children's Picture Book and selected for the Ontario Library Association’s Best Bets List of Top 10 Canadian Children’s Picture Books for 2021, the book follows a mixed-ability group of kids as they creatively negotiate everyday barriers and find joy and connection in disability culture and community. We Move Together is the result of a creative collaboration between Kelly Fritsch, Anne McGuire and Eduardo Trejos, who came to this project from their unique and varying perspectives as disabled people, parents, disability activists, and disability studies scholars.
Finally, we’re happy to announce that Unsilenced is receiving the Ally to the Autistic Community 2022 Award!
A photo of a Zoom call with 12 people, the team from Unsilenced. Vertically on the left and right are the words Unsilenced in teal and gold, respectively. [[link removed]]
Unsilenced is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that serves victims of institutional child abuse. Founded in 2021 as an organization of over 50 survivors and allies, Unsilenced is committed to promoting appropriate, healthy, and effective alternatives to programs within the Troubled Teen Industry (TTI). To foster better health outcomes without placement in the largely unregulated industry, the organization advocates for constructive alternatives that circumvent institutionalization for children and youth who are struggling with mental health and educational challenges. Utilizing education, awareness, survivor/community support, policy change, and strategic partnerships with other organizations fighting in similar spaces, Unsilenced aims to protect the civil, social, and human rights of youth.
We look forward to hearing from all of our awardees at our annual gala and hope that you can come celebrate with us! [[link removed]] Join us on Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00pm ET for the Awards Ceremony [[link removed]] , where we’ll be honoring all of our awardees.
We ask that our gala attendees donate if they are able, but no donation will be required to attend our virtual gala events. Proceeds will support our advocacy work and programs for the coming year, and allow us to continue working to empower disabled people across the country.
You can RSVP to our Facebook event and invite your friends [[link removed]]
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035
United States
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