ASAN meeting with office of President-elect, Barack Obama

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Early next week, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) has been invited to give input to the Office of the President-elect, Barack Obama, at two meetings relating to disability policy in the upcoming administration.
The first meeting will focus on autism policy issues specifically while the second will focus on health care policy from the disability perspective.
The meetings will be small, intimate and include representatives from several other autism and/or disability organizations as well.

Wrong Planet members are invited to give their thoughts as to what issues matter to them in relation to Autism Policy and Health Care Policy in the upcoming administration.
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) has been asked to take 2-3 policy priorities into the first meeting and will want to represent some of the specific needs of autistic self-advocates in the second.
As an organization that seeks to represent the needs of the community of autistic people and to fight for the rights of themselves, their families and their supporters, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) want to hear from you.
Please feel free to reply directly to the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network's president, Ari Ne'eman.
They are looking forward to hearing from you.
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network's website is here: http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network's directors contact details are here:
http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules ... egoryid=10

come on guys. share your thoughts! i know you have em and ASAN is a friend of WP.

There really should be schools and hospitals which are run by Aspergians and specialised toward the need of Aspergians.

Alex - my impression from the original post was that we should be contacting ASAN directly. Are you implying that ASAN will be monitoring this thread or that someone from WP will be forwarding it to them?

Agree with the idea but disagree on implementation. The AS community has not shown that its members are any better qualified to manage such facilities than NT. Certainly the AS community should be involved - but probably more at a "policy" level (board of directors). Forcing such facilities to have AS "managers" or presidents would limit the number of such facilities due to a lack of qualified managers.


The first thing I would like the federal government to do is to acknowledge that AS persons contribute to this nation and are of value. Many of us are taxpaying members of society that contribute to our communities and families despite our affectedness. The typical stereotype is that we are all disabled persons who can't get by on our own.

I would prefer that the government focus on treatment programs. For younger persons, this would be schools (or programs within existing schools) and after-school programs/daycare where affected kids can go. For older kids/adults life-skills and job training. I would like them to stop funding any research toward prenatal screening. I would put the burden on the researchers to prove that their studies can not aid abortion-based "cures" before receiving funding.

I also think the government needs to take a step beyond the DSM and standardize the criteria for aid. There are many stories as to how different states have different methods of determining eligibility for programs and I think the feds should make this more consistant. If a state wants to provide aid to additional persons that do not meet the federal standard, they can define their own standards and do so.

I think it would be interesting for all of us if those who do contact ASAN direct could also post their thoughts and comments on this thread.

As I'm in the UK I'm not involved in this consultation, but am very impressed that Obama's office are doing this, and feel that we could all learn a lot and be inspired in our own area by the ideas that this consultation may generate.

Amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the "Americans with Disabilities Act," and the "Equal Employment Opportunity Act," to provide that no person in the United States, on the grounds of race, color, creed, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, perceptive or communicative disorder, marital or veteran status, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any financial assistance programs, admission policies, training programs, or employment practices.

That is all I ask.

I would like to see the term MR gone along with dissolving with the stigma of people on the spectrum can not achieved anything in life (We can all make a difference in life).

Perceptive or communicative disorders are neurological disabilities. Therefore, the term 'disability' should already include perceptive or communicative disorders.
There is, however, a strong need to educate the public about perceptive or communicative disorders, their nature and their disability status.

From ASAN: