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AWN is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit. We are committed to disability justice, gender & racial equity, neurodiversity & trans liberation with a focus on transformative and restorative justice in disability spaces.

Incorporating Transformative & Restorative Justice into Our Work

AWN is committed to the following principles of transformative and restorative justice in our work as a neurodiversity and disability justice organization.

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The AWN website is being archived by the Library of Congress in recognition of our contribution to women & gender studies.

Highlights

Image of a person with a fidget spinner and a quote saying: "No one deserves to be mocked or punished for using sensory or communication tools." by C.L. Bridge

Sensory and Communication Tools Deserve Respect

No one deserves to be mocked or punished for using sensory or communication tools.  Stim toys, noise-canceling headphones, or other tools should never be withheld from a child or adult just because other people might ridicule them for it. Instead, let’s hold society accountable for ableism.

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Sexual Assault Awareness Month graphic. Drawing Connections, Prevention Demands Equity. Image of woman of color's face with a collage of symbols including a flower, the The International Symbol of Access (a wheelchair user), a trans pride symbol, a woman symbol, a man symbol, and upraised hands with different skin colors. There's also a teal Sexual Assault Awareness ribbon.

Una mujer autista habla como sobreviviente de agresión sexual 

Abril es el Mes de la Concientización sobre la Agresión Sexual. Como sobreviviente de agresión sexual y latina autista discapacitada entiendo a un nivel muy personal las conexiones entre la discriminación que enfrentan mis comunidades y cómo eso vulnera a personas como yo haciéndolas más susceptibles a la agresión sexual.

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Sexual Assault Awareness Month graphic. Drawing Connections, Prevention Demands Equity. Image of woman of color's face with a collage of symbols including a flower, the The International Symbol of Access (a wheelchair user), a trans pride symbol, a woman symbol, a man symbol, and upraised hands with different skin colors. There's also a teal Sexual Assault Awareness ribbon.

An Autistic Woman’s Experience with Sexual Assault

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Being a sexual assault survivor and disabled autistic Latina means I understand at a very personal level the connections between the discrimination my communities face, and how that makes people like me more vulnerable to sexual assault.

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Webinars

Autism Acceptance Month Kick Off: A Celebration

On April 1, 2022, AWN celebrated the kick off of Autism Acceptance Month and the one year anniversary of the publication of Sincerly, Your Autistic Child, by hosting a conversation with Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu, Victoria M. Rodríguez-Roldán, and Kassiane Asasumasu, who were contributors to the anthology itself. Join us as we kick off Autism Acceptance Month…

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Cultural Work, Visual Art, and Disability Justice

On April 24, 2022, AWN hosted a conversation with Ashanti Fortson and Micah Bazant on the topic of cultural work, visual art, and disability justice. Join us in conversation with Ashanti and Micah as we explore the world of visual art and cultural work as it intersects with disability justice. Moderator: Lydia X. Z. Brown,…

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Crip Cultural Work: Disabled and Writing Literature

On May 18, 2022, AWN hosted a conversation with Cyree Jarelle Johnson, T. S. Banks, and The Cyborg Jillian Weise on the topic of being disabled and writing literature. In part of the conversation, each panelist also shared some of their work. Join us in conversation with Cyree, Cy, and T as we explore the…

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How do we survive to thrive?: Forced Sterilization, Eugenics, Disability

On July 24, 2022, AWN hosted a conversation with Cara Page and Ma’ayan Anafi on the topic of forced sterilization, eugenics, and disability. Laws in many states say that sometimes a doctor can sterilize a disabled person even when that person does not want it. These laws let judges, along with other people like family…

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Celebrating Pride & Organizing Communities in Disability, Gender, Queerness

On July 25, 2022, in honor of Disability Pride Month, AWN collaborated with The Curve Foundation and Beyond the Rainbow in a conversation with Jamila Hammami and Bridget Liang about the intersections of disability, gender, and queerness. The panel explored how disabled queer people imagine liberation, and what the LGBTQ movement can gain from actively…

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Health Justice is Disability Justice: Disabled Perspectives in Public Health Research, Policy, & Advocacy

In April 2021, AWN hosted a discussion with Nassira D. Nicola and Emily M. Lund on disability justice and public health, addressing disabled perspectives in public health research, policy, and advocacy. The COVID-19 pandemic helps reveal ableism in our laws, policies, and practices through health care rationing proposals, disastrous vaccine rollouts, and relief measures that…

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Disrupting Educational Ableism & Racism: Disability, Race & Trauma in Schools

“Schools and the legal system tend to label these children as disobedient, disorderly, and dis/abled while simultaneously ignoring the voices of the children themselves. This pathologization then is perpetuated through the labeling, surveillance, and punishment of unwanted students along with the silencing of their voices.” – Subini Ancy Annamma, in The Pedagogy of Pathologization: Dis/abled…

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Disability Justice & Crip Technoscience: Racism & Ableism in AI & the Future of Technology

AWN hosted a discussion with Damien Patrick Williams and Crystal Lee on disability justice interventions for racism and ableism in AI in April 2021. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are ubiquitous, affecting pretrial bail determinations, health care resource allocation, school admissions, credit reporting, hiring, and policing. For disabled people, technology has often both created and enabled…

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Disability Justice & Access-Centered Pedagogy in the Pandemic

AWN hosted a fireside chat with Aimi Hamraie and Mimi Khúc about access-centered pedagogy and disability justice in February 2021. Last spring, school went virtual for everyone from kindergarteners to grad students. Some college students had no safe place to go to. Parents and caregivers working in and outside the home have had to contend with competing and sometimes…

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Abolition, Deinstitutionalization, and Decarceration in the Pandemic

AWN hosted a discussion with Dustin P. Gibson and Shain M. Neumeier about connections between disability justice and abolition in January 2021. The pandemic has hit hardest and deadliest in institutions including jails and prisons, psych hospitals, nursing homes, group homes, and large-scale developmental disabilities institutions. This webinar discusses connections between disability justice and abolition,…

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