Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is a nonprofit organization run by autistic people who aim to advocate for disability justice.

Their mission statement says that they intend to advocate for equal rights and agency for autistic people, organize the autistic community, and help make society more accessible for disabled people.

On their website, you'll find a helpful "About Autism" page, an Action Center where you can take action for disability rights, a Policy Library where you can read about ASAN's official stances on policy issues, a Resource Library, and more.

They also have a newsletter that sends out notifications for upcoming events and alerts about policy changes that affect disabled people (mostly in the U.S.). Most to all of their communication is written in plain language intentionally to maximize clarity and accessibility for a diverse set of readers.

There are many autism organizations run by non-autistic people (and/or ableist people who may not have our best interests in mind) who want to "cure" us or make us less autistic.

As far as I can tell, ASAN is not one of those organizations, likely because they are run by autistic people who profess to want to create a more neuro-affirming, inclusive world for all.

I once attended an ASAN event celebrating autistic elders in our community on Zoom, which I thought was quite informative and meaningful. It is extremely rare that older disabled people are centered and heard from in our society, so I found it particularly edifying to hear their multifarious life experiences across the spectrum.

The essence of ASAN seems to be "nothing about us without us," including those of us who are non-speaking, use AAC, and/or have intellectual disabilities. That sounds like a pretty goddamn good idea to me, so if you're looking for an autistic nonprofit organization that's less evil, this is probably the biggest one.