Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

June 11, 2025 at 4:01 PM

Tell the Department of Energy to stop attacking Civil Rights and Section 504

EmailTemplate-Responsive Our government spent this summer attacking the services and supports we rely on. It’s hard to keep track of all of the attacks on disability rights. Some politicians are trying to use this to sneak in harmful changes to accessibility laws. They think we won’…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

June 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Tell the Senate - no cuts to Medicaid in their budget!

EmailTemplate-Responsive We’ve watched as our community put in calls, made visits, and shared their stories about why Medicaid matters. You’ve told your elected officials that this program is life-saving, vital support — and they are feeling the pressure. We need you to keep it up! …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

June 5, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Join us for “Olmstead & Home and Community Based Services”

EmailTemplate-Responsive Passionate about accessible resources? Want to help us advance community-driven disability policy? Keen to support our organizational goals? Check out the three open positions we have to learn more! Passionate about accessible resources? Want to help us advan…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

June 5, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Protecting Access to Gender-Affirming Care

EmailTemplate-Responsive The most recent version of the House budget reconciliation bill added some new ideas. These ideas are about stopping health insurance from paying for gender-affirming care. To learn more and take action, read our plain language guide about gender-affirming c…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

June 4, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Plain Language Roundup: Explaining “The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Report

EmailTemplate-Responsive Last week, the White House put out a report. The report was called “The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Report”. We call it the MAHA Report for short. The MAHA report had a lot of problems in it. ASAN does not think the MAHA report was good or helpful to p…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

June 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Join us for “Olmstead & Home and Community Based Services”

EmailTemplate-Responsive It is important for disabled people to live in the community. The government made some laws, rules, and programs that can help, like The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA says that places in the community have to be accessible to disabled people.This means t…

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May 31, 2025 at 8:00 PM

🌼 May ASAN Newsletter 🌼

Newsletter 6 w members Check out what we've been up to this May! ASAN May Newsletter Dear friend, April showers bring May flowers, and we’ve seen lots of opportunities blooming this month! Grants, new roles,…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 28, 2025 at 8:54 PM

ASAN Condemns Release of Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission Report on Chronic Childhood Conditions

EmailTemplate-Responsive The Autistic Self Advocacy Network condemns the release of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s most recent report. The Commission was created to try and lower the rate of “autism and other chronic health conditions” in the United States. Lower…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 26, 2025 at 8:01 PM

Fwd: Join us for What’s Normal?: How Research is Supposed to Work

EmailTemplate-Responsive Bad research can put disabled people’s privacy, safety, and dignity at risk. So how can we tell the good from the bad? Join us for “What’s Normal?: How Research is Supposed to Work” where we’ll talk about our rights and how to spot unethical research. Let’s learn togethe…

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May 23, 2025 at 7:07 PM

UPDATE: Protecting Medicaid in the Federal Budget

EmailTemplate-Responsive The House passed a budget reconciliation bill that has the biggest cuts to Medicaid in history. The bill also has new rules that would stop Medicaid and some other kinds of insurance from paying for gender affirming care. The House passed a budget reconcilia…

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May 20, 2025 at 5:55 PM

Plain Language Round Up: #ProtectMedicaid Edition

EmailTemplate-Responsive 2 weeks ago, we joined a group of disability organizations on Capitol Hill, where Congress meets to make laws. Together, we spent 24 hours straight reading stories from people who need Medicaid to survive. There were children, parents, organizers, and allies. We reminded…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 19, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Now hiring — 3 ways to join the ASAN team!

EmailTemplate-Responsive Do you believe in the work ASAN does and want to be part of it? Come apply your skills to serve our community — ASAN is seeking three new members for our team! We will be hiring a Plain Language Specialist, a Policy Analyst, and an Executive Assistant. If you’d be excite…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 15, 2025 at 10:50 PM

Crisis of confidence: Robert F Kennedy Jr. continues to use his position at HHS to promote lies about autism & public health.

EmailTemplate-Responsive The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is alarmed at Robert F Kennedy (RFK) Jr.’s continued choice to prioritize unethical junk science and dangerous misinformation about the autistic community in his role as head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). His act…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Fight back against the biggest Medicaid cuts in history

EmailTemplate-Responsive We’ve seen Congress’ proposed budget, and it's bad news. We have a new action alert out with updates on the federal budget here. Check it out and learn how you can take action to save Medicaid! Here’s what we are up against: The proposed budget has the bigg…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM

Why is the budget request preview bad — and what can we do about it?

EmailTemplate-Responsive Last Friday, the President released a preview of his budget. It doesn’t tell us everything about the budget, but it gives us an idea of what the full budget will look like. Every year, the President sends a budget request to congress. Budgets are laws passed …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Join us for a walkthrough of the Teighlor McGee Mini Grant Application!

EmailTemplate-Responsive On May 15, 2025 at 3:00 PM ET, we will be holding another webinar to go over the application and offer support to interested applicants. Our last webinar about the Teighlor McGee Grassroots Mini Grant program talked about what the program is and who can apply…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Join us for What’s Normal?: How Research is Supposed to Work

EmailTemplate-Responsive It’s important to know what ethical research look like and what rights we have around how our personal information is used in research studies. There has been a lot of talk about research lately, and it can be hard to understand it all. When it comes to rese…

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  Erica Schmidt · [email protected]

May 1, 2025 at 7:30 PM

Lunch with Firefighters. A New Job. A Better Future. Be Part of It.

  100 Man Breakfasts and Lunches Throughout our service area, our Head Start centers have hosted their 100 Man Breakfasts and Lunches. These events are a time for Head Start children to connect with positive male role models over a meal and an educational meeting. The men in attendance included the …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

May 1, 2025 at 5:43 PM

ASAN Condemns Transphobic HHS Report

EmailTemplate-Responsive ASAN condemns the new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on transgender health care. This report, produced under President Trump’s executive order from January 28th, rejects evidence-based medical care for transgender youth — care that is suppo…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM

🌧️April ASAN Newsletter 🌧️

Newsletter 6 w members Check out what we've been up to this April! ASAN April Newsletter Dear friend, This Autism Acceptance Month has been difficult for much of our community. We have seen a myriad of threa…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 30, 2025 at 4:00 PM

There’s still time! Last day of Autism Acceptance Month

EmailTemplate-Responsive With April coming to an end, we at ASAN wanted to bring light to some of the behind-the-scenes work that we do. Planning for Autism Acceptance Month starts in January. In these meetings, we work together to create messaging that sparks hope for not just the current times…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM

Plain Language Roundup: Autistic Lives are Worth Living

EmailTemplate-Responsive It is almost the end of Autism Acceptance Month. But the government keeps on hurting autistic and other disabled people. Last week, we joined other big autism and disability organizations to put out a statement.  In the statement, we say that we agree on thr…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 28, 2025 at 8:00 PM

We’re here for the long haul!

EmailTemplate-Responsive This Autism Acceptance Month, we’re focusing on the people we’re fighting for. We’re thinking about the lives we want autistic people to be able to lead. And we’re thinking about how to keep our community well rested during this long journey. Dear friends, T…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM

HHS Walks Back “Autism Registry” Plans

EmailTemplate-Responsive On Monday, April 21st, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to collect federal and private health data for upcoming autism studies. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya also announced that NIH would c…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 23, 2025 at 4:01 PM

ASAN Gravely Concerned by Administration’s Plans for Autistic People’s Medical Data

EmailTemplate-Responsive ASAN is gravely concerned by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s (RFK Jr.) reported plans to establish a “registry” of autistic people and to hand over sensitive medical data about autistic people to unnamed researchers, likely …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM

📣 Plain Language Action Alert Roundup: What’s Happening Right Now?

EmailTemplate-Responsive Last week was one long example of why Autism Acceptance Month is so important. There has been lots of news about Robert F Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr. for short). RFK Jr. is the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS in the part of government…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM

How YOU can make a difference

EmailTemplate-Responsive We’re more than half-way through Autism Acceptance Month and we at ASAN hope that you have had some time to enjoy the little things this April. As members of the community continue streaming to raise money for ASAN, we have been working hard behind the scenes on Action A…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 17, 2025 at 10:01 PM

Leading Autism Organizations Release Joint Statement on Upholding Scientific Integrity and Supporting the Autism Community

EmailTemplate-Responsive Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Autism Society of America, and Autism Speaks and more stand united in calling for evidence-based research and investments in diverse supports for the Autism community. April 17, 2025, Washington, D.C. – As national organization…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 17, 2025 at 6:44 PM

ASAN Statement on Updated Autism Diagnosis Numbers Amidst Attacks on Autistic People

EmailTemplate-Responsive On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network report. This report estimates how many autistic 8-year-olds there are in certain areas of the country. The report shows that better rec…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 16, 2025 at 8:01 PM

Hope is a choice we make every day

EmailTemplate-Responsive This Autism Acceptance Month comes during a heavy time for autism policy. Medicaid is under threats of funding cuts, quacks have found their way into important health care positions, and people with developmental and intellectual disabilities’ rights to make our own choi…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 15, 2025 at 2:01 PM

Fwd: Join us for Autism Myths and Misconceptions!

EmailTemplate-Responsive This Autism Acceptance Month, it’s more important than ever to separate the myths from the facts! Join our panelists to talk about the myths and misconceptions around autism and how these ideas can hurt our community. Learning about the things people think a…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 14, 2025 at 8:01 PM

📣 Plain Language Action Alert Roundup: How you can help this week!

EmailTemplate-Responsive This Autism Acceptance Month has had a busy start. The government is making lots of choices that can hurt disabled people. We want to make sure everyone knows what’s going on, and how to fight back. This Autism Acceptance Month has had a busy start. The gover…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 14, 2025 at 4:06 PM

ASAN Calls For End to Police Violence After Cops Kill Autistic Latino Teen Victor Perez

EmailTemplate-Responsive Victor Perez was a 17-year-old nonspeaking autistic, Latino child with intellectual disability and cerebral palsy. On the night of April 5th, police were called to his house in Pocatello, Idaho and saw Victor in the front yard, holding a knife. A disturbing video of the …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 10, 2025 at 11:11 PM

Trump and Kennedy Spouting Dangerous Autism Misinformation

EmailTemplate-Responsive Today in a cabinet meeting, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised that “by September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we will be able to eliminate those exposures.” This alarming claim is untrue, impossible, and ableist. Like the hiring of Dav…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 8, 2025 at 2:02 PM

Tell the House: Vote NO on a budget that cuts Medicaid!

EmailTemplate-Responsive This week, the House is voting on a budget resolution that could slash funding for Medicaid and make it harder for people to get Medicaid services. This week, the House is voting on a budget resolution that could slash funding for Medicaid and make it harder …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 7, 2025 at 8:01 PM

Acceptance is an Action

EmailTemplate-Responsive Autism Acceptance Month is here, and that brings up the question: what is autism acceptance? It’s more than awareness — it’s respect, inclusion, and real change for our community. Autism Acceptance Month is here, and that brings up the question: what is autis…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 4, 2025 at 10:01 PM

Tomorrow — take action to say Hands Off!

EmailTemplate-Responsive Tomorrow, Americans all over the country will take to the streets. Disabled people know what’s at stake. We have seen the Trump administration slashing Medicaid, community living, accessible education and so much more in order to consolidate power for their allies. But w…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 4, 2025 at 7:43 PM

Fwd: Say NO to hidden Medicaid cuts!

EmailTemplate-Responsive The Senate is voting TOMORROW on a budget resolution that could cut millions of dollars in funding for Medicaid. Please call your Senator today and tell them to vote no on the budget resolution. The Senate is voting TOMORROW on a budget resolution that could…

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  Erica Schmidt · [email protected]

April 3, 2025 at 10:30 PM

Empowering Change: Cassidy's Story, Women in Business Advocacy and a Fundraising Event You Don't Want to Miss

  Building a Better Future - One Step at a Time Meet Cassidy, a CMCA member, who first connected with us through our Getting Ahead class and has continued to work with us to build a better future for herself and her growing family. Despite the challenges of pregnancy and new motherhood, she graduate…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM

Say NO to hidden Medicaid cuts!

EmailTemplate-Responsive The House and the Senate have agreed on a joint budget resolution. The Senate is voting on it today. The House will vote on the resolution sometime next week. This resolution includes instructions that would lead to Medicaid cuts in the final budget reconciliation bill. …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 2, 2025 at 9:46 PM

ASAN Unimpressed by White House’s 2025 “Autism Awareness Day” Announcement

EmailTemplate-Responsive Today, the administration announced its recognition of “World Autism Awareness Day.” This is a step backwards from the previous administration’s recognition of World Autism Acceptance Day. But this change is far from the only way the Trump administration is turning the c…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Join us for Autism Myths and Misconceptions!

EmailTemplate-Responsive Social media is a powerful tool for our community to connect, organize, and educate, but we need to be prepared to combat misinformation! Misinformation is when people share things that are not true. People can share misinformation on purpose or by accident. …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

April 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Join us on April 5: Hands Off our rights, our services, and our futures

EmailTemplate-Responsive Right now, billionaires and politicians are trying to strip away our rights and funding for vital services, and with that they are stripping the futures from millions of disabled Americans. They think they can take whatever they want — because they think no one will stop…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

March 31, 2025 at 10:16 PM

HHS Restructuring Harms People With Disabilities

EmailTemplate-Responsive People with disabilities are under attack. Musk’s DOGE and RFK Jr. are breaking up the Administration of Community Living (ACL) which supports and administers programs that ensure disabled people get life-saving services and live fulfilling lives in community with their …

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

March 31, 2025 at 8:00 PM

🌸 March ASAN Newsletter 🌸

Newsletter 6 w members Check out what we've been up to this March! ASAN March Newsletter Dear friend, As we begin Autism Acceptance Month tomorrow, we know that our communities are feeling the weight of an i…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

March 31, 2025 at 4:31 PM

Autism Acceptance Month Starts Tomorrow

EmailTemplate-Responsive Tomorrow Autism Acceptance Month begins! During April, the autism community celebrates the fight for our rights to live, work, and play in our communities. Tomorrow Autism Acceptance Month begins! During April, the autism community celebrates the fight for ou…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

March 27, 2025 at 3:56 PM

ASAN Appalled by Hiring of Quack David Geier for HHS Study

EmailTemplate-Responsive HHS, under the direction of RFK Jr., has hired known conspiracy theorist and quack David Geier to run a planned study which will investigate the thoroughly disproven idea of a link between childhood vaccinations and autism. David Geier and his father Mark have a scandalo…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

March 20, 2025 at 10:23 PM

ASAN Condemns Trump’s Executive Order on the Department of Education

EmailTemplate-Responsive On March 20th, the Trump administration released an executive order calling on the Secretary of Education to take steps to close the Department of Education. The executive order further directs the Secretary to withhold federal funding from schools that support diversity…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

March 18, 2025 at 2:01 PM

TODAY: Join Us to Save Medicaid!

EmailTemplate-Responsive Today is a national Medicaid Day of Action! Advocates across the country will be hosting press conferences, rallies, and phone banks to tell Congress: NO cuts to Medicaid. You can learn more about what is happening with Medicaid right now by reading our plai…

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  Autistic Self Advocacy Network · [email protected]

March 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Teighlor McGee Mini Grants Program Webinar Announcement

EmailTemplate-Responsive We are holding a webinar at 3:00 PM ET on March 27, 2025 to talk about this exciting new program and answer questions about the application process, what projects ASAN wants to give money to, and important dates for this program. Last year, the Autistic Self …

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