Advocate Resources
We hope you are as passionate about advocating for autistic adults as we are! Here are some state and national level groups to check out if you want to get more involved in advocacy.
Autism Council
Website: https://www.michigan.gov/autism/council
The Michigan Autism Council was announced on July 3, 2012 through an Executive Order No. 2012-11 by Governor Rick Snyder and amended with Executive Order No. 2018-12 by Lt. Governor Brian Calley on December 3, 2018. The Executive Order created the Council under the Michigan Department of Community Health (presently the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services) as an advisory body to review, adopt and implement the Michigan Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) State Plan.
The Autism Council identified priorities to address the needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan and developed three primary committees (Early Childhood, Child and Youth, Adult) to support State implementation efforts of the Michigan ASD State Plan. In addition, an Insurance Committee was formed to address issues specific to the Autism Insurance Legislation. Each committee is charged with the development of activities that address needs identified in the ASD State Plan. These committee plans are updated regularly and inform the annual report.
2023 meeting dates:
February 24, 2023
April 28, 2023
June 23, 2023
August 25, 2023
October 27, 2023
December 15, 2023
Contact: Sara Salamey at SalameyS@Michigan.gov
You can find meeting links, agenda, minutes, and topic submission form at https://www.michigan.gov/autism/council
Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN)
Website: https://autisticadvocacy.org/
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. We work to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!
Council for Disability Concerns at University of Michigan (CfDC)
Website: https://cfdc.umich.edu/get-involved
The University of Michigan Council for Disability Concerns works towards creating a community that respects disability, honors individual needs, and makes everything accessible.
We were founded in 1983 by then University President Harold Shapiro, with the original charge to act in an advisory capacity regarding University programs and policies affecting people with disabilities.
Today, the Council has over 300 members on its mailing list and includes U-M staff, faculty, students, and alumni from all campuses, as well as community members from Southeastern Michigan.
Anyone is welcome to participate in the Council. If you would like more information, or to be added to our listserv, please email CfDC-admins@umich.edu.
Meetings are held virtually on the second Tuesday of each month, noon–1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and are open to all.
Developmental Disabilities Council
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MIDDCouncil/
The Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council (DD Council) is a group of 21 Michigan citizens. Members are appointed to the Council by the governor. They come from across the state and are people with disabilities; family members of people with disabilities; and professionals from state and local agencies who provide supports and services to people with developmental disabilities. This diversity enables the Council to better analyze and improve systems and services within the state and ensure that the voices of people with developmental disabilities and their families are heard.
Disability Community Action Lab (DCAL)
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/dcal/home?pli=1
Disability Community Action Lab (DCAL) is an initiative by the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living to promote and support individual and community disability advocacy efforts.
DCAL is a place to go for learning and training, for personalized logistical support in your advocacy work, and for connection, collaboration, and resources.
Meetings are the third Wednesday of each month from 12-1:30pm. Email Eliot Carter at ecarter@aacil.org for Meeting Links.
Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) and Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC)
Website: https://www.sabeusa.org/
Website: https://www.selfadvocacyinfo.org/
The mission of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) is to ensure that people with disabilities are treated as equals and that they are given the same decisions, choices, rights, responsibilities, and chances to speak up to empower themselves; opportunities to make new friends, and to learn from their mistakes.
In 2016, SABE was awarded a grant from the Administration for Community Living to establish the first-ever national Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC). The mission of SARTAC is to strengthen the self-advocacy movement by supporting self advocacy organizations to grow in diversity and leadership.
The resource center is funded as a Project of National Significance by the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities under the Administration on Disabilities. The Advisory Committee includes 13 self-advocates from all over the USA who work as a team to oversee the SARTAC project.
Self-Advocates of Michigan
Website: https://selfadvocatesofmi.org/
Self-Advocates of Michigan (SAM) is a statewide organization led by leaders with developmental disabilities. It promotes the values of diversity, inclusion, equal rights and the self-determination of individuals with disabilities. It respects the capabilities of people with disabilities. Self-Advocates of Michigan is guided by the principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us”. This principle means no policy should be decided without direct participation of people whose lives will be affected by that policy or decision.
Membership application: https://selfadvocatesofmi.org/individual-membership/
Contact: Renee Hall at hallr24@michigan.gov