AASCEND.net is maintained by James Ullrey, who has Asperger Syndrome. His website is
The AASCEND logo was designed by painter-photographer Sharron Loree, who has Asperger Syndrome. Online gallery at www.loree.org
AASCEND is a one-of-a-kind community of support dedicated to concerns
of adults with Autism and Asperger Syndrome.
AASCEND was established
in October 1999, and registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in February
2000.
AASCEND is an Autism and Asperger Syndrome Coalition. . .
We are an autism-centered support and advocacy group of and for adults
of all ages and from all walks of life. We are people on the autism spectrum
ourselves, and we are "non-spectrum" or "neurotypicals" (NT's)
as well. We are parents, partners, and family members of people with
Asperger Syndrome (AS) and high-functioning autism (HFA). We are doctors,
researchers, therapists, teachers, and human service providers who work
with people on the autism spectrum. Unique among support groups, we are
not only people with AS and HFA, not only family of people on the autism
spectrum, not only professionals in the field of autism - AASCEND is
all of us together. Moving beyond our roles as parents, children, clients,
patients, cases, teachers, specialists, or service providers, we come
together as peers to support one another and to learn from and about
one other as individuals.
AASCEND is an Autism and Asperger Syndrome Coalition for Education. . .
Many adults with AS/HFA are able to work and live independently, yet
even for those of us at this end of the autism spectrum, sensory and
language processing issues and social dynamics often involved in securing
and maintaining employment and housing can present considerable challenges.
People with AS/HFA have throughout our lives and throughout history been
misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and even blamed for being different. Through
our meetings, conferences, and outreach efforts, AASCEND continues to
raise public awareness about autism and Asperger Syndrome - with a particular
interest in educating professionals and institutions best situated to
serve people with AS/HFA.
AASCEND is an Autism and Asperger Syndrome Coalition for Education, Networking. . .
AASCEND maintains close ties with AUTASTICS, a Bay Area support and activities
group organized solely by and for adults on the autism spectrum, and
with the San Francisco Asperger Syndrome Teen/Young Adult Club. In fact,
AASCEND grew out of and has many members in common with AUTASTICS (Autistics
United Together and Showing They Indeed Can Succeed), founded by AASCEND board member, Adam Pollack. Beyond the Asperger's community itself, collectively
and through the efforts of individual members, AASCEND has forged ongoing
connections with San Francisco State University, the San Francisco Mayor's
Disability Council, the San Francisco Police Department, the California
Department of Rehabilitation, the M.I.N.D. Institute at UC Davis, The
Arc of San Francisco, and human service agencies throughout the Bay Area.
Our conferences and now our website are helping to further broaden our
networks of collaboration within and beyond the San Francisco Bay Area
and California.
AASCEND is an Autism and Asperger Syndrome Coalition for Education, Networking, and Development
As adults living on the autism spectrum, and those who care about adults
on the autism spectrum, we are not concerned as much with the causes
of, and cures and treatments for autism, as with those concerns that
all adults face: earning a living in jobs we're good at and enjoy, having
a comfortable place to live, and connecting with people who share our
experience and interests. These concerns are widely and repeatedly identified
as the primary challenges for adults with AS/HFA. We have organized panel
presentations on "challenges, supports, and opportunities" for
people with AS/HFA in employment and housing in the San Francisco Bay
Area. We have and will continue to pursue whatever resources are available
- or potentially available - to people on the autism spectrum. For some,
this means receiving help obtaining services such as independent living
support through Regional Center programs, or job placement assistance
through the Dept. of Rehabilitation. Many people with a diagnosis of
Asperger Syndrome, however, are not eligible for these services, so we
also advocate for changes in eligibility criteria while encouraging our
members not to wait for or rely on these resources alone. We also recognize
that, at that same time, many are not interested in these avenues, though
they are no less interested in jobs and housing. On behalf of these and
all our members, we are exploring grants and other funding for pilot
projects to address these areas, and are working towards developing job
sharing opportunities, establishing micro-enterprises, and creating other
innovative solutions to employment and housing, such as people with AS/HFA
becoming housemates with people who require live-in assistance. Through
our website and public events, we promote the professional skills and
experience that individual members have to offer employers. Finally,
through our very existence - and our affiliation with AUTASTICS and the
Teen/Young Adult Club, we have created a community of support that our
members find to be vital and enriching.