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KenG
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16 Apr 2014, 10:01 am

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The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is proud to release our newest advocacy PSA, #StopCombatingMe. Produced in collaboration with We Are St. Elmo’s Fire, #StopCombatingMe provides a powerful perspective on the deeply flawed Combating Autism Act and urges for badly needed reforms and action. You can watch the PSA here:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxBt1BFeJFo[/youtube]
ASAN is working to try and reform CAA to align its goals with those of the Autistic community: self-determination, community integration, acceptance, and meaningful advocacy. Unfortunately, the usual suspects are lobbying intensely, urging Congress to re-authorize the Combating Autism Act at all costs, even if changes aren't made to fix the problems hurting self-advocates and our families. In fact, these groups are lobbying to make additional catastrophic changes which would wall the Autistic community off from the protections currently serving the rest of the disability community.

Congress has heard from us over and over again on why this proposed legislation will hurt our community. If we want them to listen, they need to hear from you.

1) Sign our action alert to contact your Members of Congress and ask them to support reforming the Combating Autism Act to make it about supporting autistic people, not “combating” us:
http://action.autisticadvocacy.org/p/di ... _KEY=10412
Share our action alert with your friends, family and networks to help us get this message out far and wide.

2) Share our PSA and action alert with your friends, families, and networks. Post on social media about why you believe CAA has to be reformed using the hashtag #StopCombatingMe. Tweet our video to your Members of Congress, and post it to their pages with a note to let them know why fixing the Combating Autism Act is so important.

3) Schedule an appointment with your Member of Congress' District Office:
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
Every Congressperson keeps offices in their home district as well as in DC; constituents can make appointments to visit these offices and express concerns. In-person meetings, even with Congressional staff, are the most effective means of creating real change in legislation. You can use our fact sheet and memo on CAA Re-authorization to guide your advocacy, and share our joint letter from the disability community:
Fact Sheet: http://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/ ... eet_r1.pdf
Memo: http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/03/mem ... ization-2/
Joint Letter: http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/04/dis ... orization/

Find the district offices nearest to you here:
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
If you have any questions or need help arranging a meeting, contact ASAN’S Director of Public Policy, Samantha Crane.

With the re-authorization bill set to be introduced within the next few weeks, it's critical that your Members of Congress hear from you now. Tell Congress that it is past time to Stop Combating Autistic People.

Nothing About Us, Without Us!


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vickygleitz
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16 Apr 2014, 3:18 pm

I wish there was an ASAN chapter in Colorado. I would be SO involved.



Max000
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16 Apr 2014, 3:37 pm

vickygleitz wrote:
I wish there was an ASAN chapter in Colorado. I would be SO involved.


Start one. Somebody has got to do it. :thumright:



Bodyles
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17 Apr 2014, 1:16 am

There used to be one where I live, but the website is over a decade old & defunct. :/

Ah well.



KenG
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17 Apr 2014, 4:56 am

Bodyles wrote:
There used to be one where I live, but the website is over a decade old & defunct. :/
ASAN was founded in 2006, so the website can't be over a decade old :)


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https://konfidentkidz.ie/seo/autism-tra ... onference/
AUTSCAPE -- Autistic-run conference and retreat in the UK
http://www.autscape.org/


Bodyles
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17 Apr 2014, 7:06 am

KenG wrote:
Bodyles wrote:
There used to be one where I live, but the website is over a decade old & defunct. :/
ASAN was founded in 2006, so the website can't be over a decade old :)


Meh.
You're right of course.
Sorry, I'm terrible with names and there are a bunch of autism groups I've been looking into lately.
Must've gotten them mixed up.
Thanks for the correction, it is much appreciated! :D

Actually, I've always wondered if that was an autism thing or if it's just me.
I can remember facts and how things work and details about all sorts of weird stuff, but names have always been slippery for me at the best of times.
I've always envied those autistics with the knack for memorizing stuff like that, but I can't help wonder if my own deficiency in that area is like the flip side of that trait.

I've recently come to realize that I also have face blindness, though I never knew what to call it before or that it even had a name.
I just always assumed that I had a terrible memory for people in general, because names, faces, things like that I have a lot of trouble remembering.
However, it's also true of names of places & dates & other things that are less about facts and more about relatively arbitrary labels which is maybe part of why I have such trouble remembering any of that stuff.
For instance, I love music, and can sing many songs from memory, but I'm terrible at knowing who sang or played them, or the name of the song, and especially the name of the album which I almost never know. So when allistics ask me about that stuff I usually can't really talk about it intelligently 'cause I don't remember who did what when or anything about what album what song was on or whatever. :?

Sometimes I feel like autism is often a set of trade-offs, where I'm great at some stuff, and extremely intelligent in some ways, yet other things I'm abyssmally terrible at and in some ways I'm as dumb as a post. I think that I've largely avoided the things I'm bad at though, somewhat unconsciously, and so I'm usually able to emphasize the good stuff enough so that the occasional slipups get swept under the rug as the kind of ideosyncratic behavior people tend to expect from a weirdo like me. :wink: ....or at least, they don't let on that they're all offended I don't remember them....