Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network

06/18/2026

It’s Autistic Pride Day

*image description courtesy of Autie-biographical Comics


[Image description:

Text at the top of the screen says "Happy Autistic Pride Day!" Honeydew cheerfully marches while carrying a large autistic pride flag. The colours are, from top to bottom: red, orange, yellow, light green, green. There's a white infinity in the middle of the flag.]

Happy Autistic Pride Day from a proud autistic!

June 18th marks Autistic Pride Day, made by autistic people for autistic people. It's important to be proud of who you are.

Whether autism helps or hinders you, it's a part of you. For me, it does both, and I accept that. I keep going on days when I can, and rest on days when I can't, and I feel no shame for that. Self-accommodation is so incredibly important.

Remember to take a break when you can. Remember to love yourself. Remember to be proud of yourself.

[Image description: Text at the top of the screen says "Happy Autistic Pride Day!" Honeydew cheerfully marches while carrying a large autistic pride flag. The colours are, from top to bottom: red, orange, yellow, light green, green. There's a white infinity in the middle of the flag.]

06/17/2026

Sharing via The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies

***Caption below in quotes and image description both courtesy of Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies***

“Today, June 1, marks the start of Atlantic Hurricane Season.

For disabled people, preparedness is about much more than just stocking up supplies. For many it means making sure our CMIST needs can still be met when disasters hit! This looks like staying connected, maintaining health, preserving independence, accessing support services, and getting where you need to go safely.

The image we are sharing today shows Hurricane Helene, a reminder that hurricanes do not have to make landfall where you live to affect your life. Power outages, flooding, supply disruptions, and displacement can extend far beyond a storm's center.

Take time this week to:
Check backup power options for essential devices
Review your emergency contacts and support network
Refill prescriptions on time
Update important documents and medical information
Make a plan with family, friends, attendants, and neighbors

The strongest preparedness tool is community. Build connections now, before they are needed.

If you need disability-related disaster assistance before, during, or after a disaster, contact the U.S. Disability & Disaster Hotline:
📞 800-626-4959 “

[ID:
NOAA GOES-East satellite image showing Hurricane Helene making landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region at night on September 26, 2024.

The large Category 4 hurricane fills much of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, with a defined eye approaching the Florida coast and dense spiral bands covering Florida and parts of the southeastern United States.

City lights are visible beneath the storm clouds. NOAA logo appears in the lower left corner. ]

Today, June 1, marks the start of Atlantic Hurricane Season.

For disabled people, preparedness is about much more than just stocking up supplies. For many it means making sure our CMIST needs can still be met when disasters hit! This looks like staying connected, maintaining health, preserving independence, accessing support services, and getting where you need to go safely.

The image we are sharing today shows Hurricane Helene, a reminder that hurricanes do not have to make landfall where you live to affect your life. Power outages, flooding, supply disruptions, and displacement can extend far beyond a storm's center.

Take time this week to:
Check backup power options for essential devices
Review your emergency contacts and support network
Refill prescriptions on time
Update important documents and medical information
Make a plan with family, friends, attendants, and neighbors

The strongest preparedness tool is community. Build connections now, before they are needed.

If you need disability-related disaster assistance before, during, or after a disaster, contact the U.S. Disability & Disaster Hotline:
📞 800-626-4959



ID: NOAA GOES-East satellite image showing Hurricane Helene making landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region at night on September 26, 2024. The large Category 4 hurricane fills much of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, with a defined eye approaching the Florida coast and dense spiral bands covering Florida and parts of the southeastern United States. City lights are visible beneath the storm clouds. NOAA logo appears in the lower left corner.

06/17/2026

The Trump administration has laid out what millions of Americans on Medicaid must do to prove they’re working or completing other activities. Health policy researchers and consumer advocates say there are some important takeaways.

06/16/2026

AWN’s Pride Month newsletter, titled “Making Pride Accessible” is out now!

The newsletter begins:

“Pride can be a joyous time when our community comes together proudly, bringing even more visibility to LGBTQIAP+ culture, contributions, and love. The ways in which we can honor Pride is so vast and filled with varying emotions.

When discussing how we would honor Pride Month this year, the AWN team wanted to focus on accessibility and inclusion. Accessibility During Pride. Everyone deserves to celebrate Pride while being in community with others. However, Pride is not always as accessible as it could be. More specifically, many Pride events deal with issues of physical accessibility, accessibility with respect to sensory needs, and even economic accessibility with event and accommodation prices being too costly for many groups.

Acknowledging this is especially important for AWN to highlight as we advocate for those who live at the intersection of q***rness and disability.
This sentiment seems to be on many people’s mind as NYC Pride’s theme for 2026 is “For All of Us.”

The theme honors LGBTQIAP+ activist Marsha P. Johnson who said, “There is no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” AWN wholeheartedly agrees and wants to emphasize that there is no Pride without accessibility. This Pride we urge event coordinators to consider how they can become more inclusive. Whether that is providing sensory tools, coordinating with disabled LGBTQIAP+ people, or organizing virtual Pride events.”

You can read the newsletter in its entirety at the link in the first comment below!

[image description:

Illustration and text against a large rainbow flag in bands of muted red, yellow and green, against a pale grey background.

Text in black font at the top left corner reads:

“AWN celebrates”

Then in large, bold, purple bubble letters reads:

“PRIDE MONTH”

In the top right hand corner in black text reads:

“June 2026”

Across the image are eight digital illustrations of a diverse group of people representing an array of ages, heights, hair color / style and clothing color / style.

In the lower right hand corner is the awn logo: a large pink “a” with a pale green winged spoonie dragonfly on it. Below the “a” is our website: awnnetwork dot org. ]

06/16/2026

Sharing from Transgender Law Center!

**Image description and caption in quotes below both courtesy of TLC-

“Black, trans youth are boldly leading us into a future that can hold us all. That sees not just our beauty, but our power. It is up to us to build each other up. Thank you, Zaya, for your inspiring work (and for joining us at Building Trans Power)!! “

Read more from Teen Vogue here ->

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/zaya-wade-says-trans-youth-are-meant-to-be-seen?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=app.dashsocial.com%2Ftranslawcenter%2Flibrary%2Fmedia%2F685682632


ID:

Slide One: An image of Black, Trans Youth Activist, and Co-Founder of Translatable, Zaya Wade, dressed in a black masquerade dress and mask, leaning against a red and black wall. Text around her reads, “Zaya Wade Says Trans Youth Are “Meant to Be Seen” by Honestine Fraser, Source: Teen Vogue”. The Transgender Law Center logo is centered at the bottom.
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Slide Two: On a red background, a quote from Zaya Wade reads, “It’s [all] about finding your people. You have to. If it [feels] scary or hard or it feels like there’s no one there, that’s what [organizations] like Translatable and all these trans organizations are for—to help you understand that there are people around who are there for you, people who are in your corner.”
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Slide three: On a red background, a quote from Advocate, Author, Actress, and Stepmother to Zaya Wade, Gabrielle Union, reads, “Queer culture, especially Black q***r culture, leads everything. Everybody else follows the trends that they set.” ]

06/13/2026

Love these tattoos that Tiff of Fidgets and Fries got done!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BJCuGs1Vw/?mibextid=wwXIfr

06/12/2026

Bit of a longer read, but really interesting and helpful on the topic of dysregulation

Image description courtesy of Kelsie / The Occuplaytional Therapist

[Image descriptions:
All three images are on a pale pastel pink/blue background and are titled, “Being a dysregulation detective…” with two sides that say “Straws” and “slaps”.

The first one defines both terms. Straws are 1% dysregulating events. Most people on most days can handle some without losing it.
Slaps are 90% dysregulating events. Most people, on most days, will lose it if they experience one.

The second slide emphasises (under both terms): they are unique to the person. What is a straw/slap to one person, might be a slap/straw to another. However, some common examples… (on the next slide)

The third slide gives common examples of straws: Small sensory discomfort, awkward social interaction, doing something a little boring, solving a problem alone, sitting still for a time. Examples of slaps: Being told no, having to wait/anticipation, demands, especially rudely worded ones, big sensory discomfort, being perceived and/or judged, or losing or not coming first.
At the bottom it emphasises again, this is descriptive, not prescriptive. You can’t tell somebody else what feels like a straw or a slap to them. I’m just describing common ones that pop up with my clients.

End descriptions.]

06/11/2026

The full schedule for has been posted! You can find all of the details in the link below-

https://i-asc.org/events/motormorphosis-conference/

FULL SCHEDULE DROP 🚨

View the full Motormorphosis weekend schedule and grab your tickets HERE:
i-asc.org/events/motormorphosis-conference/

06/11/2026

Sharing this infographic series about Pride Month from theNew Disabled Southh

**Image description are from NDS

[Image Descriptions:

Slide 1: A pink graphic with a purple border with text that says, "The First Pride Was a RIOT (and it wasn't the last)" followed by "The Stonewall Uprising in New York influenced many LGBTQ+ liberation movements in the South". The graphic includes photos of Stormé DeLarverie, Abby Drue, Sylvia Rivera, and Marsha P. Johnson. Marsha P. Johnson is holding a sign that says "Power to the People".
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Slide 2: A dark purple graphic with a bright pink border is titled with purple text with a neon green highlight that says "The Stonewall Started in New York in 1969". Below the title is white text that says, "On June 28, 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a dive bar for le***an, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in New York. Many people recount that while the Stonewall Inn was raided often, this time the people there fought back. The tipping point was the arrest of a gender-nonconforming butch le***an believed to be Stormé DeLarverie from New Orleans, Louisiana."

In the bottom right, there are two photos, one of the Stonewall Riot in New York and a photo of Stormé DeLarverie, a masculine-presenting, gender nonconforming le***an wearing a suit, tie, and hat. In the bottom left, there is some text highlighted in light blue that says "Source: American University".
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Slide 3: A dark purple graphic with a bright pink border is titled with purple text with a neon green highlight that says "We Cannot Forget the 'Stonewall Riots' of the South". The white text below says, "Police brutality against LGBTQ+ community members continued throughout the country; in the South, there were several raids turned riots following Stonewall. In August 1969, in Atlanta, Police raided a movie theatre during a screening of a q***r film, resulting in many protests and acts of resistance. Following the raid in Atlanta, 125 people attended Atlanta’s first Pride march in 1971, making it one of the earliest mass movements of LGBTQ people in the U.S. South."

In the bottom right, there is a photo of the Atlanta march for gay rights in 1971 with dozens of people holding banners uplifting the cause of the protest. In the bottom left, there is some text highlighted in light blue that says "Source: Smithsonian Magazine".
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Slide 4: A dark purple graphic with a bright pink border is titled with purple text with a neon green highlight that says "People Continued to Organize Throughout the South". The white text below says, "Atlanta’s 1971 pride helped evolve other pride events and LGBTQ+ organizations in Savannah, Augusta, Macon, Columbus, and other Southern states. In the 1970s, The Transvestite Information Service opened a national office in Spencer, North Carolina. In 1971, a group of gay men and women founded the Gay Alliance of the Roanoke Valley in Southwest Virginia.

In 1973, an LGBTQ-friendly bar in New Orleans was set on fire. This led gay leaders in the city to call for a liberation movement." In the bottom right, there is a photo Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project with dozens of people holding banners uplifting the cause of the protest. In the bottom left, there is some text highlighted in light blue that says "Source: US Library of Congress".

06/10/2026

Disability advocates are suing after the Trump administration abruptly delayed a pair of rules designed to improve accessibility right before they were set to take effect.