Dear friend,

This month, our community has fought back against attacks on our rights and our futures. Learn what ASAN has been working on and how you can get involved.

This month, ASAN released a new toolkit called The “Profound Autism” Label Hurts Autistic People. This toolkit talks about autistic community history. It shares some problems that happened before, and how they are happening again now. These problems were about functioning labels. This toolkit talks about the new label, profound autism, and how it hurts autistic people. There are a lot of problems with this label. We talk about the problems and how we can push back against the “profound autism” label to support all autistic people. We must fight for a world where all autistic people can make choices about our lives and futures.

We also updated our toolkit about voting rights! Understanding voting and how to know who to vote for is an important part of living in the community. People with disabilities deserve to understand how to vote. That’s where our new plain language voting toolkit comes in — and that’s why we’ve updated the Plain Language version of Your Vote Counts: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Voting in the U.S. for 2026! The toolkit focuses on the process of voting, and understanding how to prepare to vote on election day.

On September 23, a federal judge sided with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the five states in the Texas v. Kennedy lawsuit. This decision will end some parts of the 2024 integration mandate, but it does not get rid of Section 504. It also does not get rid of the entire integration mandate. The decision applies to all states, not just the five states that sued. This decision hurts our community. It will make it harder for people with disabilities to get the supports and services we need to live in the community. It will make it harder for people with disabilities to stay out of institutions. It will make it harder for people with disabilities to get out of institutions. But this decision does not take away the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504, or the Olmstead decision. We still have the right to live in our communities. States are not allowed to ignore the ADA or Section 504. We deserve a government that protects our rights. We do not deserve a government that ignores our rights. ASAN demands states continue to follow the integration mandate. We deserve a government that protects our rights.

Next month, ASAN will celebrate our anniversary at the ASAN 20th Anniversary Gala, and we hope you’ll join us. Twenty years of making sure self-advocates are in every room where policy about us is made. Twenty years of pushing for all autistic people to be able to make choices about our lives, regardless of our support needs or how we communicate. Twenty years of nothing about us, without us. This year’s theme is Together We Thrive. This theme is deeply important to us, knowing that the work needed to build a world where autistic people can flourish can only be done collectively. We will be hosting an evening of awards, panels, celebration, and community to honor the 20 years of work we’ve done alongside our community. We hope you’ll join us!

This month we were excited to share a blog post from Gregory Tino. Gregory is a leader in the nonspeaking community. He has written 7 books, created 14 videos and has written literally hundreds of blog posts educating people about nonspeaking autism and spelling to communicate. He has met with legislators regarding issues involving nonspeaking autism.  He is on 2 advocacy groups. He is a member of the Spellers and Allies Advocacy Network (S&A) and has made many important contributions to the group and to the International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC) as a whole.  He is an amazing example of advocacy. He has reached so many potential spellers, CRPs and future Practitioners with his heartfelt writing about his spelling journey.  Gregory is a fierce advocate for nonspeakers and an extraordinary human who strives to make a difference in the lives of all of the people around him. You can read Why Wouldn’t You Try It? here.

As we move through this month, we recognize and honor the holidays, celebrations, and important events that hold meaning for our community and beyond.

• Autumn Equinox
• Ganesh Chaturthi
• Krishna Janmashtami
• Paryushana Parva
• Rosh Hashanah
• Samvatsari
• Sukkot
• Yom Kippur

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.

As we begin autumn, the end of this month is a good time to look at what we’ve accomplished this year and all the work ahead. There is plenty still to do, but it is valuable to look back at what we’ve accomplished together. We’re looking forward to honoring our community at next month’s gala, and we hope you’ll find some time to rest and recharge for the fights ahead.

With warm wishes,

The Team at ASAN

Support our work      Become a member