Self-advocate Lydia Brown reports on a proposal to improve safety for Autistic people by training law enforcement officers in Massachusetts about autism. She has provided a fact sheet and contact information for state legislators.
Public Comments Needed on Home and Community Based Services. Proposed rules will ensure that Medicaid community living funds go toward keeping people in the community and not in institutions. Your comments will help make this happen.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are developing minimum standards for home and community based services settings. ASAN has prepared comments on the proposed rulemaking.
Congress Urged to Amend Autism Legislation: The Jewish Federations of North America, along with ASAN, seek amendments to the Combating Autism Act to ensure the involvement of self-advocates and to fund more research on services and the needs of adults. The JFNA Action Alert contains information on how to contact key Senators.
Register Now for Autism Conference: ASAN is organizing the self-advocacy strand for the 2011 Autism Summer Institute at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability.
Several large American corporations have communicated with ASAN expressing interest in hiring Autistic applicants through diversity programs, and we often learn of jobs in the government, non-profit, advocacy and public policy sectors for which we would like to recommend adults on the spectrum.
An essay by Stephanie Allen Crist. Today is Memorial Day in the United States. It’s a time to look back, and remember those who have sacrificed to make this country a place to be free. Instead, I look ahead and ask myself if it is freedom that I see. There’s something on the edge of thought—a feeling to be written of that isn’t quite ready to come out, not quite ready to be exposed. Frustration is there, and so is disappointment. All swirled together with a steady, flat kind of hope.
ASAN President Ari Ne’eman gave an interview discussing ASAN’s opposition to extending the flawed Combating Autism Act, which failed to address the urgent need for services across the lifespan and did not involve self-advocates in research and planning.
Community Experiences Surveyed: Two research surveys addressing issues of community involvement and experiences in society, one by the AASPIRE Gateway Project and the other by Adena Rottenstein and other researchers at the University of Michigan, seek input from Autistic participants.
Press Release Opposing Autism Legislation: ASAN has issued a press release stating that an extension of the Combating Autism Act would lock in place an unacceptable status quo without services, without consideration of the needs of adults and without inclusion of self-advocates. We oppose extending the act without needed program reforms.
ACTION ALERT: Stop Extension of Flawed Autism Policy. Congress is considering legislation to extend the Combating Autism Act, which fails to provide for services and was passed without the involvement of self-advocates, for three more years. Contact your Senators today to oppose re-authorization without needed changes!
Criminal Charges Lead to Departure of Matthew Israel from Judge Rotenberg Center: As part of a plea bargain agreement for charges against him involving JRC’s use of electric shock on two teenagers, Matthew Israel is leaving the center, the Boston Globe reports.
