European Council of Autistic People

19/05/2026

Self-Advocacy is justice: Neurodivergent voices rising
Autistic and ADHD voices must be heard—not spoken for.
Self-advocacy empowers neurodivergent people to shape the
systems that affect their lives. Inclusion starts when we listen,
learn, and let them lead.

This is the work EUCAP's team is doing through the NeuroDem Project: amplifying neurodivergent voices, promoting participation, and creating more inclusive communities with our partners from Germany, Slovakia, Romania and Greece.





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Self-Advocacy Is Justice: Neurodivergent Voices
Rising

Autistic and ADHD voices must be heard—not spoken for.
Self-advocacy empowers neurodivergent people to shape the
systems that affect their lives. Inclusion starts when we listen,
learn, and let them lead.

10/05/2026

Three autistic people and one of our allies within the European Disability Forum, at the end of two interesting and intense days of meetings.

From left to right: Reetta Viljanen, EUCAP Board member, Heta Pukki President of EUCAP, Maureen Piggot, EDF Finance Committee Member, Myria Tsiakkirou, EUCAP Board member.

We are looking forward to continuing discussions with all the old and new connections who have shown interest in our work. It's always wonderful to experience how we are seen, heard and accepted on these European platforms, even when advocacy work in our respective countries feels like an uphill battle.

We are particularly excited about some new thoughts concerning accessibility that have been in the air. Special thanks to Phillipa Tucker, Ona Albizu, Pirkko Mahlamäki, Sari Hirvonen-Skarbö and Rui Coimbras for your support!

09/05/2026

The Call for Proposals for AUTCamp 2026 will close on 15th May. Don't miss the deadline!

The event will be held on 10-11 October in Rome.

Call for AUTcamp 2026

Emergenza, crisi, conflitto, sicurezza, priorità. Negli ultimi anni queste parole sono entrate con forza nel dibattito pubblico. Guerre, crisi climatica, instabilità politica ed economica stanno ridefinendo le condizioni di vita di milioni di persone.

In questi contesti emergono con chiarezza le gerarchie che attraversano le nostre società, e ci domandiamo in questo contesto chi viene considerato prioritario? Chi riceve protezione e chi resta ai margini?

Le persone disabili sono spesso escluse dai piani di emergenza, dai sistemi di protezione e dalle decisioni politiche. È una conseguenza diretta di come quei sistemi sono stati pensati.

AUTcamp 2026 vuole aprire uno spazio di riflessione collettiva sulle implicazioni etiche, politiche e pratiche della gestione delle crisi, ma anche ragionare sulle le idee, cercare nuovi strumenti e pratiche per fare le cose diversamente.

Cerchiamo interventi che affrontino, ad esempio:
- idee, riflessioni e considerazioni, anche non strutturate in un progetto definito;
- presentazioni di progetti in corso o già realizzati, incluse linee guida e protocolli operativi in situazioni di emergenza o crisi;
- proposte per affrontare le emergenze in modo egualitario, senza lasciare nessuno indietro;
- esperienze dirette legate ai temi della call;
- riflessioni su etica e disabilità.

Questi sono solo esempi. Siamo aperti a qualsiasi contributo che metta in dialogo il tema della crisi con la prospettiva della disabilità e della neurodivergenza.

AUTcamp è uno spazio aperto a persone disabili, caregiver, attiviste, ricercatrici, artiste e a chiunque voglia contribuire con riflessioni, esperienze o proposte. Promuove il paradigma della neurodiversità, i disability studies e il modello sociale della disabilità.

Per questo non saranno ammessi contributi che trattano di:
relazione autismo/vaccini;
- terapie farmacologiche di qualsiasi natura;
- terapie cognitivo-comportamentali, affettive o simili;
- ricerca medica di base;
- diagnosi e percorso diagnostico;
- DSM e strumenti analoghi;
- modello medico della disabilità.

Le proposte devono essere inviate entro il 15 maggio 2026, in un testo di massimo 250 parole accompagnato da una breve biografia, alla mail [email protected]

09/05/2026

The Annual General Assembly of the European Disability Forum started today in Limassol, Cyprus. The EDF is facing significant changes as the long-term President, Yannis Vardakastanis, is stepping down, and a new Board of Directors will be elected.

Heta Pukki and Myria Tsiakkirou, EUCAP's Board Member from Cyprus, are representing EUCAP at the meeting.

05/05/2026

On European Independent Living Day, we stand with our allies at the European Network on Independent Living - ENIL.

Autistic people with disabilities are often still excluded from services that would allow independent living, even when these are available to others.

We deserve to live without depending on support from parents, siblings or friends in adulthood. We deserve to choose who to live with, not being forced or coerced into a living arrangement with a group of any size. We deserve to make all the important decisions about our lives, with support when necessary.

PRESS RELEASE

European Independent Living Day 2026

Independent living is a right, not a privilege.

On 5 May 2026, the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) marks European Independent Living Day, focusing on legal capacity and supported decision-making.

Across Europe, disabled people are still denied the right to make decisions about their own lives. Without legal capacity, independent living cannot exist.

We call on the EU and Member States to:
• Recognize full legal capacity for all disabled people
• Replace substitute decision-making with supported decision-making
• End institutionalisation in all its forms
• Invest in community-based services and personal assistance

Independent living means choice, control, and dignity.

Join us in demanding change.

🔗 Read the full press release: https://shorturl.at/jsWta

30/04/2026

As our final message of this Autism Month, we would like to raise awareness about the obstacles that we as autistic people still face in realizing our right to family life.

There are still countries in Europe where forced sterilization is legal. We are proud of the work that Sara Rocha does on the Women's Committee of the European Disability Forum and elsewhere to change this.

There are countries where child protection services target families of neurodivergent children disproportionately, with misguided interventions that lead to children being placed in institutions or foster care instead of providing appropriate support.

There are countries where a disabled autistic adult will lose crucial disability benefits if living with a partner, forcing couples to live apart.

There are institutions of all sizes throughout Europe where privacy and space are not available for an autistic person to bring a partner to visit, the structures, practices and attitudes signaling in many ways that the residents are not expected to have romantic or sexual relationships.

There are institutions where natural expressions of sexuality are actively repressed.

We need autistic voices at all levels of policymaking, as well as in the planning, delivery and monitoring of services, to change these injustices.

Don't just be aware of our existence, become aware of the issues that are important to us.

30/04/2026

Last minute chance to join the discussion with our young autistic advocates, facilitated by Angela Kingdon and Valeria Danilova.

Join by registering here by 17:00 CEST:

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/u5TmGaLDrL

24/04/2026

From peer support to advocacy, the volunteers of AMASE - Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh have been empowering autistic individuals and creating autistic community in Scotland since 2017.

Discover our lastest EUCAP Member Interview with AMASE co-founder Fergus Murray and chair Fiona Clarke on our website, made possible with the support of the Guerrilla Foundation.

https://eucap.eu/interview-amase-scotland/

23/04/2026

NeuroDem Bootcamp Promotes Inclusive Advocacy

In February 2026, EUCAP team members joined the NeuroDem Train‑the‑Trainer Bootcamp in Bratislava, where youth workers and neurodivergent young people co‑designed inclusive advocacy tools across five partner‑led modules. EUCAP led a session on cross‑sector collaboration, using workshops and simulations to practice accessible facilitation and decision‑making.

Read more about it on the EUCAP website! ⬇️

23/04/2026

The ACTIVATE project is publishing relatable and inspiring stories by autistic people, mainly young adults. See the latest contribution by Hans Bruintjes from the Netherlands, and many others, on the project blog.

Autistic people of any age are welcome to contribute by sending text, video or art. We will help to prepare the material for publication, and translate to English if necessary, publishing both the original and the translation. Contact us by sending email to [email protected], in any language!

https://neuroadvocacy.eu/turning-personal-experiences-into-advocacy-story-of-hans-bruintjes/