Autreach Principles

Autreach Principles

[a work in progress]

Autreach is a network of autonomous groups. Being an Autreach group requires an acceptance of the “Autreach principles” [see below], but every group is independent, has its own membership, governs and finances itself.

Most recent draft

To suggest changes to the draft principles, edit the “Autreach principles”
writeboard, saving as new version if making substantive changes.
Click writeboard link to see and compare previous drafts.

(writeboard access for registered members only)
Writeboard

Updated 3 months ago by Alexis

Writeboard

Updated 3 months ago by Roger

See notes on this draft.

“This page is NOT to be taken as a definitive statement of what Autreach is or what Autreach stands for until a general agreement on principles has been reached. These draft principles are intended as a first step in that direction and a document for discussion.”
(Draft 1 of principles first published at Autreach.com; note above adapted from original posting on the Autreach Network Discussion Forum.)

 

[Draft principles] 17 Jan


Autreach is an organized network of autonomous groups, working to support autistic people and campaign for autistic rights. Each group, through its members, is responsible for its own organisation, working practices, and finances.

Autreach groups subscribe to these principles:

  • Autreach groups are open and accessible to all autistic people regardless of cognitive style, IQ, perceived functioning level, or possession of a formal diagnosis.
  • Autreach groups do not discriminate on grounds of disability, impairment, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, political or religious affiliation, size, age or social status.
  • Autreach groups do not accept any variation to the human rights of autistic people, these rights being defined in the European Convention on Human Rights and related international declarations.
  • Autreach groups promote the Social Model of disability as a useful tool for liberation and empowerment.
  • Autreach groups are Disabled People’s Organisations of primarily autistic people, and their organisation and working practices should embody accommodations appropriate to their membership.

The Autreach slogan is ”Nothing about aUtiSm without aUtiStics”.

Autreach groups are open to working alliances within broader frameworks of neurodiversity, disability and psychiatric survivors’ rights. We are part of a universal struggle for the dignity and rights of all members of the human family, in solidarity with other stigmatised, marginalised, oppressed, or disempowered groups of people.

 

Notes

 

Autreach is not an organization: it is a network.
This draft [draft 5 on writeboard] is deliberately limited to a core of essential principles, with the aim of making them acceptable to a wide range of groups.
Groups may add to these core Autreach principles, provided that additional principles do not introduce any inconsistency or conflict.
The principles are subscribed to by groups (by whatever procedure is decided by the autonomous group), so each principle is of the form “Autreach groups are/do/etc”
Being an Autreach group requires an acceptance of the “Autreach principles”, but every group is independent, has its own membership, governs and finances itself. An individual can be a member of more than one group, but people are not members of “Autreach”, and Autreach is not directed or managed by any individual or group.
Only the bulleted sentences are principles (and subscribing to them implies that they will be actively practiced by the group); the closing paragraph(s) are not normative
Groups are described as “working to support autistic people and campaign for autistic rights”: choice of activities within this description is entirely up to individual groups.
“A disabled people’s organisation is an organisation which is managed by a management or executive committee on which disabled people hold at least 51% of its voting membership” (groups may allow non-autistic members; groups may have a management or executive committee, or this may vest in the whole group)