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Today is Giving Tuesday and the International Day of Disabled Persons!
Autistics United Canada is a member of the Autistic Advocacy Coalition of Canada (AACC), a collective of autistic-led advocacy organizations. We represent diverse autistic youth and adults across the country. We fight for human rights and disability justice on issues of education, employment, health care, violence, segregation, accessibility, self-determination, and autistic well-being. This Giving Tuesday, we are fundraising for two projects: 1. To build and maintain an AACC website, where we can put our MP Action Kits for members; information sheets; press releases; human rights reports; Calls to Action and more. 2. To print materials to present to Members of Parliament and other organizations on our campaign to get autistic-led groups included in ALL federal policy discussions about the policies that affect our lives. These projects need to happen now--because the federal government has been showing signs of support for the proposed National Autism Strategy (NAS), an Autism Speaks-backed policy package. We need a major shift on autism policy and it can only happen with strong, united advocacy groups fighting for it. Thank you for your support, via your donation or any other ways that you show support. We appreciate it! Donation link: https://www.autisticsunitedca.org/donate.html
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 Autistics United Canada and the Neurodiversity Listening Society are hosting an event where autistic and neurodivergent people can give feedback on the upcoming BC accessibility legislation, as part of the public consultation process. This feedback will be used to generate a report by BC chapters of Autistics United to submit to the provincial government. The event is happening on Saturday November 23rd, 1:30-4:30 pm. Attendees can come in person to 5024 Rumble Street in Burnaby, near Royal Oak Station, or join us online via Zoom. Honorariums and snacks will be provided. More information can be found on our Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/415719872401985/) and our registration form: https://forms.gle/xBon9zJSFeuoQsku6 Need help getting to the event? We can help with travel costs. Let us know on the registration form or by emailing us. Can’t make it in person? Join us online via Zoom video conferencing! Not free on Nov. 23 but still want to give feedback? Fill out our survey: https://forms.gle/ZZGFa4HWaHy4GgdW6 Our #AutisticsVote Federal Election 2019 Toolkit is now up! Check it out here, along with our Talking to MPs guide.
Sections:
Elections Canada is the official source of information about voting at the 2019 federal election. Visit their website (English version / version française), check out their Voter’s Guide, and find updates on Twitter (English version / version française). From our guide, possible questions you can ask your candidates: Consultation - Nothing about us without us!
Health care and well-being
Violence towards autistic people
Stigma & “awareness” vs. acceptance
Equitable and affordable housing
Employment and poverty
Communication access
Research
Beyond the Accessible Canada Act
 We have reached over $500 on our accessibility fundraiser! Thank you to all of those you have donated so far.
Keep the momentum up by sharing our fundraiser! We aim to create a pool of money that autistic people across Canada can draw from to improve the accessibility of their advocacy and community building projects. Applications will open once we achieve a large enough pool for distributing funds. Donate to our fundraiser here. Have any questions about how to improve the accessibility of your initiatives? Reach out to us and we can answer your questions! We have organizers experienced in inclusive event planning, including physical, cognitive, sensory, and financial access. [Image description: Number 500 in a middle of adrawing of a sun. Text reads: "We raised $500 with your help!" Autistics United Canada logo in bottom right]  Autistics United Canada wrote a report to the United Nations for the 22nd session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which happened from August 26 to September 20, 2019. This report highlights areas of concern in Canada that pertain to autistic people under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
You can view the report here. You can also find submissions from other Civil Society Organizations here. To learn more about the CRPD, visit the United Nations website. There are translations, sign language, plain language versions of the CRPD available on the website. [Image description: Text reads: List of Issues on Canada Submission for the 22nd Session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, August 26 to September 20, 2019 Submitted by: AUTISTICS UNITED CANADA Promoting disability justice and creating connections by and for Autistic people AutisticsUnitedCa.org Autistics United Canada logo of 8 interlocking infinity symbols in a rainbow of colours] Wishing you all happy stimming! 🎉 (party popper emoji)
Let’s take this moment to celebrate autistic bodies and senses and commit to fight for autistics who are silenced and prevented from stimming freely. Follow the #StimFest conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Check out our neurodiversity library in Metro Vancouver, BC! We lend stim toys and fidgets to individuals and community organizations. Please welcome the new chapter of Autistics United Canada, AU Comox Valley — K’ómoks Territory!
They are just getting started, but you can contact them through email or visit their Facebook! Email: ComoxValleyAutistics@gmail.com Facebook: @ComoxValleyAutistics Autistics United Comox Valley also has a support group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ComoxValleyAutisticsSupport/ To sign the petition, visit: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/511/865/033/
The full version of the petition is below. We oppose the “National Autism Strategy” Campaign. It does not represent autistic people--and has never meaningfully consulted with autistic people. It promotes the segregation of autistics, instead of inclusion. We stand for inclusion. The Government of Canada should consult directly with autistic people when creating a new, inclusive approach. We, the undersigned, strongly oppose the National Autism Strategy campaign in Canada (“National Strategy”). We call on our government to do what’s right and meaningfully consult with autistic self-advocacy organizations when developing autism policies. The current National Strategy campaign is not supported by independent data, nor does it reflect meaningful consultation with autistic self-advocacy organizations or autistic individuals. It represents a small interest group of providers, with a minority of parent support. The National Strategy campaign is opposed by every autistic self-advocacy group in Canada, as well as many disability rights advocates, parents, organizations and policymakers. Autistic people deserve to be included in school, housing, work and public life. But the types of autism services endorsed by National Strategy petitioners promote segregation--not inclusion. Autistic toddlers should not be segregated in full-time ABA “therapy” centres, nor should it be the norm for autistic students to be tracked into “special” schools and grow up to live in segregated group homes and work for pennies in sheltered workshops. These services may seem to make life easier for parents, but they do so at an unbearable cost--in human rights, freedom, autonomy and inclusion for disabled people. Autism is not a disease to cure, but a disability to accommodate. We need access and services that promote inclusion. National Strategy petitioners take the short-sighted view that autism should be placed under Medicare. Our Government needs to keep autism policy under a range of portfolios to reflect its commitment to inclusion in all aspects of Canadian life. Canada is behind much of the rest of the world on inclusion for autistic people. It is time to catch up. This spring, the Government of Canada met for the first time with autistic self-advocacy groups to share ideas, resources and input. We urge the Government to continue these meetings, and to:
Autistic people in Canada have so much to offer in the national discussion about autism policy. They should be included every step of the way. We ask our government to reject the National Strategy petition and instead develop robust, independent policy based on consultations with a range of stakeholders, including autistic self-advocates and disability rights groups across a diversity of identities and backgrounds. This includes centering the voices of black, indigenous, and other autistic people of colour, LGBTQ+ autistic people, working class and low-income autistic people, autistic people who are immigrants and refugees, autistic people with additional disabilities, and autistic people who live at other margins. Canada can do better on autism policy--and it needs to start now. Signed, The Autistic Advocacy Coalition of Canada - Autistics United Canada (chapters in British Columbia, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia) - Autistics 4 Autistics, Ontario - London Autistics Standing Together Disability self-advocacy organizations and self-advocates are preparing for the annual Disability Day of Mourning on March 1st. Across the country, local communities will gather to commemorate people with disabilities murdered by family members or caretakers.
Disability Day of Mourning was originally organized by the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) and other disability rights organizations in 2012, in response to the murder of George Hodgins, a 22-year-old autistic man from California, by his mother. As dozens of names are added to the victims list every year, the number of vigils have also grown, spreading throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and China. The murders of people with disabilities are often framed as “mercy killings,” but that perception sets a dangerous precedent. "The value our society places on disabled people is shockingly clear," says activist, author, and speaker Emma Van der Klift. "Faced with a growing number of child murders perpetrated by parents upon their disabled offspring, the public seems unable to respond with the clarity reserved for the parents who murder their nondisabled children. When we mistake homicide for care and compassion, we help create a climate where these and other atrocities become possible.” In Canada, Disability Day of Mourning was first observed in 2015, starting in Vancouver. Since then, vigils have been held as a yearly reminder that disability is not, and has never been, a justification for violence. 2019 Vigils Vancouver, British Columbia: Hosted by Autistics United Vancouver— Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territory The vigil will be at the Woodlands Memorial Garden, New Westminster, British Columbia from 5-6:30 pm. Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2243051655975208/ Winnipeg, Manitoba: Hosted by Autistics United Manitoba— Anishnaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dene & Dakota Territory, & Homeland of the Métis Nation The vigil will be held at the University of Winnipeg (The Hive), Winnipeg, Manitoba from 6-8 pm. Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/260070201577749 Guelph, Ontario: Hosted by Kinnery Chaparrel (individual activist) The vigil will be held in St. George’s Square, Guelph, Ontario from 6 pm. Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/340573600000332/ Guelph, Ontario occupies the traditional land of the Mississaugas of the Credit (Anishinaabek), Anishinaabe, Attawandaron, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Toronto, Ontario: Hosted by Autistics 4 Autistics (A4A) The vigil will be on the Ryerson Campus (Sally Horsefall Eaton Centre Bldg, Room SHE560), Toronto, Ontario from 3-5 pm. Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/349632405875581 Toronto, Ontario occupies the traditional land of the Mississaugas of the Credit (Anishinaabek), Anishnabeg, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee, and Wendat peoples. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Hosted by Autistics United Nova Scotia— Wabanaki Confederacy & Mi’kmaq Territory The vigil will be held in the Halifax Central Library (BMO Community Room on the 2nd floor), Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1-3 pm. Event details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1196551217166983 2018 was a busy year for Autistics United Canada!
In the last year, we have changed our name in order to better include our Indigenous autistic siblings and respect the land we occupy and work on, launched our website, and hosted socials and events to foster autistic pride in our communities and advocate for ourselves in and the wider disabled community. Some of our major projects this year were our annual Disability Day of Mourning (DDoM) vigils, which we were able to live stream from Vancouver this year, and our letter writing campaign about immigration for people with disabilities regarding the medical inadmissibility provisions in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Both of these campaigns were held nationwide! We have also been able to reach out and form stronger relationships with other self-advocacy organizations such as A4A Ontario and London Autistics Standing Together (LAST). These relationships have also helped us create a new chapter, Autistics United Nova Scotia - Wabanaki Confederacy and Mi'kmaq Territory, which was formed in early December. Chapter News AU Vancouver - Musqueam, Squamish & Tsleil-Wututh Territory Socials:
AU Manitoba - Anishnaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota & Dene Territory & Homeland of the Métis Nation Socials:
AU Nova Scotia - Wabanaki Confederacy and Mi'kmaq Territory While this chapter just formed in December, Chapter Leader Alex Kronsteinhas been a long-time Autistic advocate, including hosting DDoM annually and advocating against dangerous therapies. We are excited to work with him more in the future! What's Coming for 2019? In addition to our annual events, such as DDoM and Autism Acceptance Month, this year we also plan on:
We could not have made it this far without the support from you and the community! If you would like to be more involved, or have any suggestions or stories to share, please consider becoming a member, volunteering with us, or reaching out to us over social media (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) or email (info@autisticsunitedca.org). We have our work cut out for us in the upcoming year! |
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