ASAN January Newsletter
Dear friend,
This has been an incredibly difficult month; our communities are hurting and scared. We are with you, and we are ready to fight back together. We have seen threats to programs like Medicaid and the ACA, anti-immigrant and anti-trans policies, and countless other setbacks this month. It’s challenging to follow every dangerous policy decision or threat that has come this month. The barrage of attacks on our communities is intentionally tiring and hard to follow, and we feel that too. We will continue pushing against the rising tide of hateful sentiment and policies, together.
We need people to set up meetings with their legislators’ offices about Medicaid! Legislators are the people in government who can vote on laws, like the laws that fund Medicaid. Many disabled people in the US get life-saving health care and services through Medicaid. But some people in Congress think the government should spend less money on Medicaid. If Medicaid does not get enough money, people across the country will lose services they need. Legislators can decide what happens to Medicaid. That’s why meeting with legislators in Congress is an important way to stand up for Medicaid. Please check out our action alert to learn how to meet with your legislators’ offices — even if you have never done that before!
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is now accepting applications for the 2025 Autism Campus Inclusion (ACI) Leadership Academy! ACI helps autistic students learn to make their college campuses better for people with disabilities. ACI participants learn about making student groups, understanding disability policy, and talking to people in power. After ACI, students get help from ASAN to meet their advocacy goals at their college. ACI 2025 will be held virtually from July 14th through 20th, 2025. Learn more about ACI here and apply by Sunday, March 9th, 2025!
On Saturday, March 1st, the disability community will gather virtually and across the nation to remember disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers. We hold our annual Disability Day of Mourning vigils to draw attention to these injustices, to commemorate the lives of victims, and demand justice and equal protection for all people with disabilities. This would not be possible without the vital work of our volunteer site coordinators. You can learn about what site coordinators do and to sign up to lead a virtual or in-person vigil here.
We accomplished a lot in 2024, and we want to hear what you think we should do next. What do you want to see from ASAN in 2025? You can let us know what you’d like to see from us in 2025 by filling out our annual survey! This is your chance to have your voice heard and help us plan for the year to come. Check out our annual survey here and let us know what you want to see from ASAN.
Our first year of launching the Teighlor McGee Grassroots Mini Grant Program was extremely competitive. Applicants were innovative and interested in making real change in their communities, which made it hard to narrow down the finalists. We have the honor of announcing the six recipients across both categories of mini grants! In the Self-advocates Transforming Equitable Policy (STEP) Mini Grants category, our recipients are Trans Autistic Haven, Supernova Parenting Summit, Queer Disability Aid, and Proud Parents. In the Affiliates in Action (AiA) Mini Grants category, our recipients are Autistas de México and Radiant. You can read more about all the recipients here.
As a part of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s 2024 gala, we have the honor to share and uplift our remarkable awardees’ words and their service to the self-advocacy and disability community. We will be sharing their remarks for the first few months of 2025, starting with remarks from CommunicationFIRST, recipients of the Nothing About Us Without Us award. Keep an eye out for remarks from the rest of our awardees and learn about their incredible work!
Are you interested in public policy and how it affects your community? Do you want to get involved in policy advocacy, but are unsure where to start? Check out the recording of this month’s webinar, Policy Advocacy: What we do and how we do it! We talked about public policy, policy advocacy, and how we decide policy priorities. And if you’re interested in learning about other kinds of advocacy, we also have trainings on Building Organizing Communities and Legislative Advocacy!
We want to thank everyone who submitted public comments about the Department of Labor (DOL)’s proposed rule! You can read ASAN’s comments here. The Department of Labor is the part of the government that is in charge of the 14(c) program, which lets companies pay disabled people less than the minimum wage. ASAN also co-wrote an op-ed alongside New Disabled South — you can read it here! It might take a long time for the DOL to decide what to do with their proposed rule about 14(c). ASAN will keep fighting for all disabled workers to get fair pay!
As we move through this month, we recognize and honor the holidays, celebrations, and important events that hold meaning for our community and beyond.
- Asarah B’Tevet
- Christmas (Orthodox)
- Ed Roberts Day
- Epiphany
- Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti
- Kalends
- Lohri
- Lunar New Year
- Makar Sankranti
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- New Year’s Day
- Solemnity of Mary
We know there are more holidays that we didn’t know to list here. Whether this month brings moments of joy, reflection, remembrance, or connection for you, we wish you peace and fulfillment. We hope this month brings opportunities for growth, kindness, and support.
This month has been full as we’ve fought beside you against ableist policies, learned important advocacy skills together, and prepared for the fights still to come. We’re grateful to know that we do all of this as a community — it’s only together that we can keep pushing forward.
With warm wishes,
The Team at ASAN
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Tell Your Legislators: Protect Medicaid!
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Become a Disability Day of Mourning Site Coordinator
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Policy Advocacy: What we do and how we do it
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