The Autistic Self Advocacy Network applauds the recent collaboration between Campus Pride, an LGBTQ rights organization focused on creating safer college and university campuses, and Queerability, an LGBTQ and disability rights organization run by and for LGBTQ people with disabilities to create a new resource entitled Disability Rights Activism for Student Leaders. The resource contains information about ways to include LGBTQ people with disabilities in their student groups and the importance of supporting disability rights everywhere.
Autistic college students and those with other disabilities are present within every community. Our access needs and those of other minority groups interact and intersect. We welcome the opportunity for disability rights activists and LGBTQ activists to make common cause with each other in support of greater accessibility and inclusion for all. ASAN appreciates the efforts of Queerability and Campus Pride to create an invaluable resource that will greatly improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We look forward to seeing the implementation of the Disability Rights Activism for Student Leaders guide on college and university campuses nationwide and urge LGBTQ and disability rights campus groups to explore opportunities for collaboration and cooperation.
ASAN’s own resource on campus systems change for students with disabilities, Empowering Leadership, can be downloaded for free online on our website or purchased on Amazon. Autistic students may also be interested in reading Navigating College: A Handbook on Self-Advocacy Written for Autistic Students from Autistic Adults, also available for free download or purchase on Amazon.