Minnesota Autism Council

16/08/2021

Thank you to all those who were able to attend the virtual town hall! If you were not able to attend, but would like to share your experience regarding about whether services FOR people with disabilities are accessible TO people with disabilities, please feel to do so through the survey linked in the comments below.

A virtual town hall hosted by disability and educational advocacy organizations in Minnesota addressing the question: are services FOR people with disabiliti...

30/09/2020

The MN Autism Council is pleased to recognize one of our members for receiving this honor. Thank you for your contributions to the Council and community, Rufo Jiru!

Ten people who came to Minnesota as refugees will receive awards this month for making a difference in their communities.

17/09/2020

The Minnesota Autism Council has accepted the resignation of the individual referred to in our earlier statement. We thank them for their service and wish them well.

We acknowledge that this incident has consumed a great deal of energy and caused considerable anguish for all parties involved. Our hope is for healing for all as the Council looks forward to directing that energy towards serving autistic people and their families.

MN Autism Council Executive Committee
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14/09/2020

The MN Autism Council was recently advised of a viral video that allegedly shows a council member making some controversial claims. We take these claims extremely seriously, and while we gather information about the facts surrounding the videos themselves, there are issues raised by the videos that the Council wishes to address including the existence of COVID-19, wearing masks, rights under the ADA, and co-opting those rights by people without disabilities.

We wish to state unequivocally that co-opting the language of the ADA by non-disabled people in order to avoid wearing a mask is completely unacceptable and actively imperils the actual disability community.

Millions of Americans with disabilities are facing immeasurable challenges during the pandemic, and people with disabilities often have underlying health conditions that make them even more susceptible to serious illness or death if they contract COVID-19. Masks have repeatedly been proven to be one of the simplest and easiest ways to stop the spread of COVID-19, but there are also many people with conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or sensory processing disorders that could make wearing a mask more of a risk than a benefit. People who have a disability-related problem wearing masks are entitled to reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and there is no requirement that the person provide any specific documented proof of disability in order to request reasonable accommodation.

As Rachel Carrington wrote in Rooted in Rights, "disabilities are not prizes we've earned that give us the right to better parking or more attention. We didn't go to our doctors and beg for our disability status." When a non-disabled person seeks to have an exception made on the grounds of disability where none exists, this actively harms the disability community by reinforcing the perception that some people are "faking it," when it's more likely they have an invisible disability such as autism.

The MN Autism Council’s purpose is to provide a consensus-driven venue to review and propose improved autism spectrum policy and program priorities to benefit the lives of individuals with autism and their families. Denying the existence of COVID-19 and co-opting disability harms those our council was created to serve.

We are deeply disappointed about the distraction from the good work that the Council has done in the past and continues to do, and we remain firm in our commitment to upholding the rights of autistic individuals and their families.

The Executive Committee of The MN Autism Council
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13/08/2020

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/15VOIKzay0NIYYHA4nGPV44lWZ_Aeaa8h3JNrvMFzklwUeL5w_bx_-PRLdzDfA4m?startTime=1597244116000

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22/07/2020

The MN Autism Council was pleased to serve as a co-host to this morning's virtual town hall on Pandemic Planning: Hopes and Fears for Returning to School, along with our co-hosts The Arc of Minnesota, The Autism Society of Minnesota, the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota, Ed Allies, Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance, Minnesota Council on Disability, Minnesota Disability Law Center, Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, Multicultural Autism Action netowrk, PACER Center, Pr%f Alliance, and the Somali American Parent Association.

If you didn't have a chance to tune in, or would like to review the forum again, you can find a recording with captions here: https://bit.ly/2ZV8rDb

If you would like to share a story but were not able to during the forum, the Autism Society of Minnesota has graciously offered to collect additional information at e-mail [email protected].

Zoom unifies cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, and cross platform group chat into one easy-to-use platform. Our solution offers the best video, audio, and screen-sharing experience across Zoom Rooms, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and H.323/SIP room systems.

14/07/2020

Pandemic Planning: hopes and fears for returning to school

The MN Autism Council is co-hosting a virtual town hall forum on Wednesday July 22, 10:00-11:00 am

Families and children with disabilities will share their thoughts and concerns about returning to school during the pandemic. Invited listeners include legislators and decision-makers from the Minnesota Department of Education to
hear and learn from your stories.

Register in advance for Zoom info: bit.ly/PandemicPlanTHF
Join via Facebook live: bit.ly/ArcFacebookLive

29/06/2020

https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/hcp/patientsupport.pdf

12/06/2020

https://www.dropbox.com/s/47w81ncq4outuys/Letter%20to%20Legislature%20from%20MN%20Autism%20Council%20-%20June%2012%2C%202020.pdf?dl=0

Shared with Dropbox

03/06/2020

Minnesota Department of Health has issued the following guidance for people with disabilities surrounding masks:

19/05/2020

Some resources on what to happens if a person with a disability needs to be hospitalized during the pandemic from the Bazelon Center:

17/04/2020

Here are the recommendations and resources list from the MN Autism Council Town Hall.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/48ycix9jwzy18b3/Minnesota%20Autism%20Covid%2019%20Council%20Town%20Hall%20Resources.pdf?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rrnji89yhqmuc0q/MN%20Autism%20Council%20Covid%2019%20Recommendations%202.pdf?dl=0

Shared with Dropbox