Empowering Leadership: A Systems Change Guide for Autistic College Students and Those with Other Disabilities

ASAN partnered with the Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation (DJFF) for our Empowering Disabled Leaders project. Colleges and universities benefit from moving attention toward cultivating leadership, communication, and assertiveness skills for students who will soon become part of the real-world workforce. College students with disabilities frequently receive disability accommodations related to the reduction of accessibility and learning barriers. But there has been less focus placed on specialized instruction related to becoming active lifelong advocates for changing social-physical environments to support people with disabilities in schools, workplaces, and communities.

Our project brought together several self advocates to author a comprehensive booklet that contains information about:

  1. Establishing campus advocacy groups
  2. Navigating service provision and accommodations
  3. Engaging with administration
  4. Running advocacy-focused campaigns
  5. Exploring disability studies

Empowering Leadership: A Systems Change Guide for Autistic College Students and Those with Other Disabilities is available for sale on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. Disabled student activists can download a free PDF version here.