ASAN
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[image description: a rainbow-colored wheel with black text that reads "ASAN: Autistic Self Advocacy Network"]
Thumbnail image from autisticadvocacy.org
Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a non-profit grassroots organization. This means they get money in donations, but have to spend all that money each year. They are led by autistic people. They make the more money each year than any other autistic-led organization. ASAN was started in 2006 by Ari Ne'eman and Scott Robertson. They wanted to counter the harmful narratives about autism that were popular. They also wanted to get autistic people involved with the Disability Rights Movement. Because of this, they use the slogan "Nothing About Us Without Us". This is an older slogan from the Disability Rights Movement. Their focus is on federal autism policy. Those are the laws the government puts in place about autism. ASAN started as an all-volunteer organization. The volunteers lived in different places across the United States. Some of them also lived in other countries. ASAN gained 501 (c)(3) status, in 2011. This means they became a non-profit. Then they opened their office in Washington D.C. This is still where they are.
ASAN Chapters
At first, ASAN operated with chapters. Chapters are smaller organizations that are part of a bigger one. They did this both before and after they were established as a non-profit. ASAN did chapters until around 2017, when they moved to having affiliate groups instead. Affiliate groups are like chapters, but can have different names. They also have more freedom in what they do than chapters. Below are the websites that remain from when they had chapters.
Logos
The current logo ASAN uses has several curved lines that represent the colors of the rainbow shaped to resemble a wheel. However, it is not the logo they have always used. Below is their original logo that they used from 2006 to around 2012 when it changed to what it is today.
[Image description: the letters "ASAN" colored in blue and gold. The As are gold while the S and N are blue. There is an arrow-like shape surrounding the letters, also colored in gold and blue]
ASAN has a YouTube channel that started in 2011. There are several videos on there that give an idea of what the organization does. Some of the content on their channel includes recordings of past galas, campaigns like Stop Combating Me and Autistics Speaking Day, and PSAs. It can be found in the link above.
Social Media
There was an event called Project for Awesome (P4A) that encouraged YouTubers to raise money for charities. ASAN participated in this, producing a short video starring Sam, who is non-speaking. It serves as a commercial of sorts for ASAN.
#StopCombattingMe was a campaign to change the name of the Combating Autism Act. The Combating Autism Act was a piece of legislation. It gave the government money to spend on autism research. President Bush signed it in 2006. It was up for renewal in 2014. Many autistic people found the name insulting and wanted to change it, as well as the goals of the act. A member of ASAN started a flashblog. A flashblog is a blog made for a specific topic. It is usually made to surround an event. Several people write posts for it. Their posts are all featured on the same blog.