Supporting the Autistic Community

In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, join us for a special edition of Meetup Live, where we’ll shed light on some of the issues facing the autistic community. In this installment of the Dismantling Social Injustice series, we will learn about ways that we can all be more inclusive.

Lydia Brown, (they/them) of Center for Democracy & Technology, and Carol Greenburg, (she/her) of the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, will discuss neurodiversity and the autism rights movement. They will discuss the limits of autism research, testing, and legislation, as well as the impact of remote learning for autistic children. We’ll end with ways we can take action to support the autistic community. Plus, stick around for a Q&A session.

Agenda:
Introductions (5 mins)
Panel Discussion (40 mins)
Q&A session (15 mins)

About Lydia X. Z. Brown:
Lydia X. Z. Brown is an advocate, educator, and attorney addressing state and interpersonal violence targeting disabled people living at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, faith, language, and nation. Lydia is Policy Counsel for Privacy & Data at the Center for Democracy & Technology, focused on algorithmic discrimination and disability, as well as Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs at the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. They are founding director of the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival, & Empowerment.

Lydia is adjunct lecturer/core faculty in Georgetown University’s Disability Studies Program, and adjunct professorial lecturer in American Studies at American University’s Department of Critical Race, Gender, & Culture Studies. They serve as a commissioner on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights, chairperson of the ABA Civil Rights & Social Justice Section’s Disability Rights Committee, board co-chair of the Disability Rights Bar Association, and representative for the Disability Justice Committee to the National Lawyers Guild’s National Executive Committee. Lydia is currently creating their own tarot deck, Disability Justice Wisdom Tarot.

About Carol Greenburg:
Diagnosed with Autism at 44, Carol Greenburg is an editor at Thinking Person's Guide to Autism book, blog, and online community. In her role as a non-attorney advocate in NYC and beyond, Carol has written articles for or been interviewed by diverse media outlets ranging from Family Circle Online, Child Mind Institute, Spectrum, Zoom, Parents.com to Neurology Now. Her most recent piece, “Sensory-Friendly Picks For Life On The Autism Spectrum,” went live on Wirecutter.com on 4/8/21.

Check out the Community Matters blog for the recording, the latest updates, and stories from the Meetup community.https://www.meetup.com/blog/

This event is online. You may need to install Zoom: https://zoom.us/download

Please note this event is taking place in Eastern Time (ET). Space is limited so reserve your seat. The dial in link will become available after you RSVP to the event. Also, don’t worry about a password, it’s embedded in the link. You'll be able to sign in if you're logged on to the same email address that you rsvp'd with.

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