Family Resources
Connection to Disability Communities
Autistic children and their caregivers can benefit from a connection to disability communities. Here are some organizations that are led by disabled people, to follow on social media and to learn from:
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
“Nothing About Us Without Us.”
AutisticAdvocacy.org
“Ask me, I’m an AAC User”
(24 Hour Rule)
facebook.com/groups/456220758119314
Autistics Unmasked
(Providing a safe space for autistic self-advocacy)
AutisticsUnmasked.org
Autism Inclusivity
(Autistic adults answer questions posed by caregivers of neurodivergent children.)
facebook.com/groups/inclusiveautism
The Autistic People of Color Fund
(Fighting, Building, & Sustaining for Justice, Healing, & Liberation.)
AutismAndRace.com
Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network, Inc.
(Community support, and resources.)
AWNnetwork.org
NeuroClastic
(The Autism Spectrum According to Autistic People.)
Neuroclastic.com
Reframing Autism
(Resources, research and education)
reframingautism.org.au
Super Nova Parenting
(Empowering caregivers of families facing mental illness and/or intellectual developmental disabilities.)
supernovaparenting.org
Thinking Person's Guide to Autism
(News and Resources)
ThinkingAutismGuide.com
Autistic Authors
Start Here a Guide for Parents of Autistic Kids (ASAN, 2021).
Autism Books by Autistic Authors for all ages (also includes books not specifically about autism).
autismbooksbyautisticauthors.comLoud Hands: Autistic People Speaking (edited by Julia Bascom, 2012).
Sincerely Your Autistic Child (Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network, 2021).
A Guide to Understanding Your Autistic Child (Autistic Science Person, 2021)
Autistic Representation
Autism in the Media
autisminthemedia.com
Disability History
Crip Camp, A Disability Revolution
Drunk History: How Judy Heumann and the Section 504 Sit-In Led to the ADA
Pursuing a Late Diagnosis
“Am I Autistic? Your Guide To Self-Evaluation And Navigating The Clinical Assessment Process” by Autistics Unmasked.
Student Supports
Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) Providers
“Supporting your young person through autistic burnout” (Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, 2023)
Neurodivergent Spoons & Forks: How to Explain Autism and Fatigue (Sullivan, 2020)
“Autism Checklist of Doom:” a list of possible triggers of autistic meltdowns and shutdowns. (Rosa et al, 2022).
Advocate For
MA Bill H.180, “An Act Regarding the use of Aversive Therapy”.
If passed it would ban the use of aversives on disabled people. Also, all MA residents regardless of disability would have the same protections against physical harm.Federal H.R.3474 - “Keeping All Students Safe Act” 117th Congress (2021-2022). If passed, this bill would prohibit the use of seclusion and limit the use of physical restraint in schools and Head Start programs that receive federal funding.
Advocate With
The Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
Their mission is to inform changes in policy and practice to reduce and eliminate the use of punitive discipline and outdated behavioral management approaches and end the school-to-prison pipeline.