Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN)

AWN is committed to advocating for autistic women, nonbinary people, Two-Spirit people, and people of all marginalized genders, including agender people. We believe LGBTQIAP+ autistic people are the experts on their own lives and identities, and we work to end the additional discrimination, stigma, and barriers to healthcare access they often face. We work to dispel stereotypes and misinformation which perpetuate unnecessary fears surrounding an autism diagnosis, including misinformation about LGBTQIAP+ autistic people. We seek to share information which works to build acceptance and understanding of disability and neurodiversity. 

AWN operates under a disability justice, transformative justice, and restorative justice framework that centers the most marginalized, including autistic BIPoC and autistic LGBTQIAP+ people. 

An overview of our work includes:

• AWN  created a “Know Your Rights” guide for trans people seeking medical care, and I was proud to help promote that guide as a panelist on their webinar “Enabling Access for Autistic Trans People in Healthcare.”
• AWN recently published Sincerely, Your Autistic Child: What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew About Growing Up, Acceptance, and Identity through Beacon Press, which now has 12,000+ hard copies shipped, and thousands of ebook and audiobook sales. It is authored by autistic people with a wide range of lived experiences, including LGBTQIAP+ and BIPoC autistics. All funds raised have been split between the authors and supporting the AWN community.  
• Our ongoing Liberating Webinars series, which offers educational, artistic, movement-building, and community-building content free to our community, regularly featuring LGBTQIAP+ panelists and LGBTQIAP+ issues.
• AWN has been a staunch supporter of the Equality Act, which would provide federal protections from health care discrimination for LGBTQIAP+ people. 
• AWN fiscally sponsors the Autistic People of Color Fund (APOC). This program provides direct financial support to Autistic people of color through micro-grants ($100-$500). To date, over $200,000 in grants have been given to Autistic BIPoC and their families.
• AWN supports Autistic and disabled community members who run Neurodiversity Lending Libraries. To date, we have provided more than $15,000 in grants, books, and materials, as well as co-host community events. Your generous donation will help us to continue providing support to these amazing and much needed libraries!
• We provide a Health Provider Survey with a linked database listing intimate care providers. These providers offer sensory friendly and accessible health care.
• AWN co-hosts the Autistics Present Symposium at Bellevue College. APC is a one-day conference centering Autistic people as the conference speakers. Thousands of people have benefited from these events to date, and because many of the event talks are videotaped, disabled people, their families, educators, and professionals continue to benefit every day.
• Your generous support allows AWN to continue hosting disability & autism acceptance events, seminars and conferences, with the focus on multiply marginalized disabled people. Our community meetups provide social gathering and community connection. AWN's programming primarily focuses on educational events, as well as gatherings in various geographic areas.

The mission of Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN) is to provide community, support, and resources for Autistic women, girls, nonbinary people, and all others of marginalized genders.