NEWS!

=leemcd56 has got a job and has no time for this community, and may be going to college soon. I, ~Maninthebottle can't be the mod either, since the community is now being run by one person. So I discussed this with the former mod, ~Luai-lashire and she said we should make a list of possible mods, and when the old mod doesn't have time for the community, another mod can take their place. I need people to volunteer for mods on the list.
I'll be waiting for your reply.
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:dance!: PRIDE! :dance!:

Welcome! This is a club for autistics, the friends and families of autistics, and anyone else who supports the concept of Neurodiversity- support and acceptance for all people, regardless of how their brain functions.
For those of you not familiar with the concept, I'd like to point you to an excellent resource: [link]
Our gallery features the works of our members & all pieces are related to the topic of neurodiversity, anti-cure, and acceptance. If you disagree with the messages of our works, feel free to start a calm discussion, but flaming, insults, and other bigotry will not be tolerated.
To members: Our affiliate, =Circleoffriends, offers support, emotional and otherwise, to deviants who need it. If you need to use this service of theirs, please note me (*Luai-lashire) and I can pass it on to them.

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To Join us:
- Send us a note with "join" in the title
- Watch us
- Put our icon in your journal or signature. If you don't know how to do this, see here: [link]

To submit art:
- You have to be a member of the club first
- Send a note with "submission" or "submit" in the title and a link to the piece in the body of the note
- Art that is rude, bigotted (against autistics or anyone else!), or pitying will not be accepted

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What Can I Do To Spread Autism Acceptance?
There is so much that you as an individual can do to promote autism awareness and acceptance! It all depends on the time and effort you are capable and willing to put into it!

1) Start a local advocacy group! Don't feel the need to limit yourself to other autistics, other parents, ect. Accept anyone who wants to spread the message. You can participate in activities like protests against cures, handing out flyers promoting Neurodiversity, ect, and you can all be there to support each other.

2) If you have the qualifications- a degree, an autistic child, or you are autistic yourself- you may be able to come speak to kids at a local school about autism and Neurodiversity.

3) We see a lot of misrepresentations and other bad reporting of autism in the media. You can write to your editor or submit an article to a local newspaper to try to clear up common misconceptions about autism.

4) The big charities like Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now have a lot of celebrities wearing their puzzle pins. Write letters to your favorite celebrities. Explain to them what Neurodiversity is and why you hope they'll publicly support it. If we can get even one celebrity to publicly endorse the concept of Nuerodiversity, it would be a huge accomplishment- the publicity would be fantastic.

5) Wear Neurodiversity-themed shirts, buttons, pins, and hats! These are relatively easy to find online through Cafepress and similar venues.

6) Tell all your friends! They know you, they know it's important to you, and they're likely to listen to you.

Spread The Word!

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Good resources for ASD and Neurodiversity information
Neurodiversity .com - [link]
Autistics .org - [link]
Neurodiversity at the Autism Wiki - [link]
The Autism Wiki - [link]
Ballastexistenz (blog) - [link]
NTs Are Weird (blog) - [link]
Left Brain/ Right Brain (blog) - [link]
Aspies For Freedom (forum) (note: some people dislike this site because there are frequent arguments caused by misunderstandings. After all, we aspies DO have comunication problems! ) - [link]
Autistic Daily Living Yahoo! Group (for help with housework and basic needs) - [link]
Aut_Housework (LiveJournal Community w/ same goals as the Yahoo! Group) - [link]
Aspergers/Autism LiveJournal community: [link]

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Members
:iconryyujin-0: :icomvermeil: :iconelasticion:
Affiliates
=Heartband-Revolution
*Circleoffriends
*assorted-nuts

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This journal brought to you by ~Maninthebottle, =leemcd56, and ~Luai-lashire, club moderators.