NCD Appointment Confirmed: The U.S. Senate has voted unanimously to confirm President Obama's appointment of ASAN President Ari Ne'eman as a member of the National Council on Disability. More details here.

Addressing Health Care Disparities: ASAN has signed a joint letter urging the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to include representation of the cross-disability community in designating medically underserved populations, citing the significant barriers that confront people with disabilities in obtaining access to health care.

Secretary Sebelius Appoints ASAN President Ari Ne'eman to IACC: ASAN would like to express appreciation to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for her appointment of Ari Ne'eman as a member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. Read more here.

Legislation Passes House! The House of Representatives has approved the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) by a vote of 262-153. The Justice for All Action Network, a disability rights coalition to which ASAN belongs, has issued a statement applauding the House for taking action to protect children from abuse.

Legislation Introduced in Senate: After having been favorably reported out of the House Committee on Education and Labor, the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247, S. 2860) has been introduced in the Senate. Now it needs to be brought to the floor for a full House vote, and more co-sponsors in the Senate are needed. There will be another National Call-In Day on Friday, February 26th. Click here for more about how you can help.

Legislation Going to Committee: The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) is going to be marked up by the House Education and Labor Committee this Thursday, Feb. 4th. More phone calls to representatives are needed immediately to keep the legislation strong. To help, click here. There will be a live webcast from the committee website at 11:00 am Eastern time.

Restraint & Seclusion Legislation National Call-In Day: Join us in a National Call-In Day on Thursday, January 21st to tell your members of Congress to support the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247/S.2860) to protect students from abuse in schools. Click here for more information.

Help free autistic youth: ASAN calls on our supporters to help support Zakh Price, an 11 year old Autistic boy charged with assault after resisting inappropriate restraint by school personnel. Click here to learn how to help.

Change.org Action Alert on School Abuse: ASAN has created an e-mail template on Change.org for contacting Congress to ask representatives and senators to co-sponsor the new legislation against abusive restraint and seclusion in schools. Click here to go to the action alert page.

JFAAN Press Release on Restraint and Seclusion: The Justice for All Action Network (JFAAN), a disability rights coalition that includes ASAN, has issued a press release on the proposed federal legislation to protect students with disabilities from inappropriate and abusive use of restraint and seclusion. Click here to learn more.

Volunteers Needed for School Abuse Prevention: Federal bipartisan legislation against dangerous restraint and seclusion in schools will be introduced in a press conference webcast live from http://edlabor.house.gov at 11:00 AM EST on Wednesday, December 9, 2009. ASAN seeks volunteers to help with our advocacy efforts to pass legislation to protect students; if you are interested, please write to info@autisticadvocacy.org with the subject line "Restraint and seclusion."

Employment Discrimination Testimony: ASAN President Ari Ne'eman addressed the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Justice Civil Rights Division regarding the ADAAA Proposed Regulations and employment discrimination issues of concern to Autistic workers. Click here to read his testimony.

ASAN New England Testimony on Aversives: ASAN New England local activist Sara Willig presented testimony to a Massachusetts legislative committee on the harm done to Autistics and others with disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center, calling for legislative action to ban the use of aversives.

Disability Community Seeks End to Judge Rotenberg Center and Aversives. ASAN has signed a joint letter in which 29 disability rights organizations call for legislation to end the abuse of people with disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center and other institutions. The letter has been sent to several federal agencies and human rights groups.

Disability Community Condemns Autism Speaks: Over 60 national, international, and local disability rights organizations have signed onto a joint letter condemning lack of representation, exploitative and unethical practices by Autism Speaks. Individual signatories can show their support by signing this petition and by reposting the letter. Click here to read a press release issued by ASAN.

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Parenting Advice: Dallas mom and ASAN Texas Chapter Director Melody Latimer explains in a Dallas Morning News article why autistic kids often engage in repetitive behaviors.

Improving Health Care: ASAN Board Member Paula C. Durbin-Westby was quoted in a HealthLeaders article on providing better health care services to the Autistic population by means of care coordination programs.

Virginia Budget Controversy: In the Charlottesville Daily Progress, ASAN Board Member Paula C. Durbin-Westby stated her opposition to proposed budget cuts that would hurt people with disabilities.

New Scientist Interview: ASAN Vice-President Scott Robertson was quoted in a New Scientist article on the revision of the diagnostic criteria to provide for a single autism spectrum classification. He also was interviewed for an Education Week blog entry on this topic.

Baltimore Sun Article: ASAN Board Member Paula C. Durbin-Westby discussed the importance of making sure those on the autism spectrum are treated properly.

ASAN in Education Week article: ASAN President Ari Ne'eman was quoted in an Education Week article on the proposed federal legislation to protect students with disabilities from abusive use of restraint and seclusion.

Autism Speaks Controversy in Time.com: ASAN's ongoing protests against Autism Speaks and condemnation of the "I Am Autism" video were discussed in a Time.com article, which also mentioned the numerous parodies and video responses created by the self-advocate community.

New York Times Interview: A report on the proposed deletion of the Asperger's Syndrome diagnostic category, published in the New York Times, included an interview with ASAN President Ari Ne'eman.

Washington Protest Coverage: ASAN's protest against Autism Speaks in Washington DC on October 31, 2009, received television coverage from WJLA News on ABC 7, radio coverage from WAMU 88.5 FM, and print coverage from The Hilltop Online.

Cross-Disability Campaign Profiled in New Scientist: ASAN President Ari Ne'eman and ASAN's cross-disability oppositional campaign against Autism Speaks and its "I Am Autism" video were featured in articles that ran in New Scientist Magazine and on the Special Education Blog of Education Week. (The New Scientist article was also syndicated in Australia by World News Australia of the Australian Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).)

Portland Radio Interview with Phoebe Loomis:. ASAN-Oregon activist Phoebe Loomis was interviewed about the cross-disability campaign against Autism Speaks on the evening news of KBOO-FM, an Oregon radio station. Listen to audio of the broadcast, or read the interview transcript. (A captioned version of the broadcast will be posted to YouTube soon.)

Portland TV Interview with Elesia Ashkenazy: Following ASAN-Oregon's protest against Autism Speaks on Saturday, an interview with ASAN-Oregon activist Elesia Ashkenazy was the lead story on the evening news on Portland TV station KOIN-6.

Portland protest on TV news: ASAN's Portland, Oregon chapter organized a protest of an Autism Speaks fundraising walk on Saturday, Sept. 26th, 2009. Watch video from Oregon TV station KPTV-12 and watch video from TV station KOIN-6.

Challenges of Workplace Highlighted: ASAN President Ari Ne'eman appeared in the article "Autistic Adults Vie for a Place in the Work Force" in The Times of Trenton, NJ.

Disability Scoop Feature on Oppositional Campaign: ASAN President Ari Ne'eman and the ASAN-led cross-disability campaign against Autism Speaks' video "I Am Autism" were featured in an article on Disability Scoup, an online news magazine about developmental disabilities.

ASAN President Ari Ne'eman is profiled in Newsweek Magazine discussing the Autistic community's concerns around genetic testing and the need for a new direction in autism advocacy. Click here to read the article.

ASAN President Ari Ne'eman delivers NFB Disability Law Symposium Keynote: On Friday, April 17th, 2009 ASAN President Ari Ne'eman delivered the keynote address at the National Federation of the Blind's Disability Law Symposium. Click here to listen.

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