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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

A scene of a Black family celebrating from the “Old Towne Road Part II episode of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.” (Disney) On the left is an autistic boy with an afro, with his sister in a pink dress next to him, his father in a cowboy hat, and his mother in a yellow suit

February Newsletter

Earlier this month, AWN leadership helped to consult on the highly acclaimed autism-focused episode of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder reboot that recently aired on Disney+. The episode, which was intentionally released in February, has been praised broadly for its thoughtful portrayal of a Black family with affirming parents of a newly diagnosed autistic child.

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llustration and text against a pale grey background. Text reads: “BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023 BLACK TRANS RESISTANCE” At center is a drawing of a Black fist raised with bracelets in the trans flag colors: pink, white and blue. At center bottom dark text reads: “an AWN Network Infographic Series” In the lower right hand corner is the awn logo: a large pink “a” with a teal spoonie dragonfly and our website awnnetwork.org.

Celebrating Black Trans Resistance

For Black History Month, we’re celebrating Black Trans Resistance by releasing an infographic series on the experiences of Black trans people with discrimination, acceptance, and joy. Join us this month in amplifying issues crucial to Black trans communities and uplifting Black trans-led organizations by sharing these graphics and blog post

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A graphic with a black textured background. There are faded silhouettes of people in the lefthand corner. The text on the top is white and says ‘Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network x Autistic People of Color Fund’. The bottom text is black, on a white background that looks like a strip of paint. It says ‘Statement on the Murder of Tyre Nichols’.

AWN & APOC Fund Statement on the Murder of Tyre Nichols

AWN condemns the anti-Black, white-supremacist systems and practices that caused Tyre Nichols’s untimely death. Policing in the United States is based on fear, violence, and the systemic subjugation of marginalized people, including Black and Brown people, disabled people, and LGBTQ people.

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Webinars

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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Surviving Burnout from Ableism & Racism in the Pandemic

AWN hosted a discussion with Allilsa Fernandez and Dom Chatterjee about burnout and racism and ableism in the pandemic in January 2021. Disabled people in Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, and mixed-race communities live and struggle against the trauma of racism and ableism every day. During the pandemic, our communities have witnessed and experienced constant violence – in the medical…

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Before You Go: Enabling Access for Autistic Trans People in Healthcare

The Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network and the National LGBTQ Task Force hosted a panel with Kayley Whalen, Finn Gardiner, and Noor Pervez, with Victoria M. Rodríguez-Roldán moderating, about autistic trans access to healthcare in October 2020. The Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network and the National LGBTQ Task Force are excited to share a brand new guide for trans autistic people called Before You…

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