Wisconsin Autism Empowerment

 There is an old adage “Whom you spend time with is whom you become.”  I had a therapist once tell me that the biggest way to change your life is to change the company you keep.  She said that we become a combination of the five people we spend the most time with.  A scary thought if you work full-time with folks you don’t want to emulate.  Luckily she meant those we chose to spend time with, our ‘volunteer’ relationships.   

The same reasoning applies to organizations.  Who they partner with shows a great deal about who they are.  So with that said, I am proud to announce that Wisconsin Autism Empowerment has become an affiliate of ASAN, Autistic Self Advocacy Network.   Much about how well we fit together is evident in our organization’s names.  Empowerment
and self-advocacy fit together quite well.

Some details about ASAN

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the
principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN
believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. We work to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the
future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!

“Nothing About Us Without Us” means that autistic people
need to be involved whenever autism is discussed. When non-autistic people make decisions about autism without Autistic input, those decisions are usually bad.

This makes it harder for us to get by in the world. Decisions about autism need to be made with autistic people. That way, we can make policies that help us live our lives, and teach people how to be understanding and supportive of the autistic community. ASAN offers resources to help our group help our members.  Which in turn will advance the goals of ASAN,
better lives for autistic citizens.