I know it’s only a couple of days away, but today is as good a time as ever to consider what to do when it come to Giving Tuesday. It seems apropos to talk about it here because we all have had help in our lives, I’m sure. I’ve added these once before, but I’ve added one more to the list because I believe in these places and the mission that they work for, please consider checking out and supporting the following places:
The Autism Society of America: http://www.autism-society.org: One of the best places to go for autism research, especially as it comes to support for newcomers and newly diagnosed. A long standing beacon of advocacy for over 50 years, ASA stands among the best of the best, coming from a former Board Member of my local Chapter.
4340 East-West Hwy, Suite 350 Bethesda, Maryland 20814
Global and Regional Aspergers Syndrome Partnership: https://grasp.org: If you’re a Spectrumite that’s looking for a diagnosis, looking for support groups or need to work on new things, then GRASP is for you. Talking from personal experience (as I do with all the links I’m sharing), GRASP looks to empower Spectrumites so that they feel like you’re never alone. Wise words from an organization where I’m part of their Advisory Board.
369 Lexington Ave, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10017
Center for Spectrum Services: http://centerforspectrumservices.org: When it comes to the Hudson Valley, The Center for Spectrum Services, my old school, is a place where young Spectrumites can feel like being themselves, thanks to 40 plus years of experience, a warm and inviting staff and wonderful two co-founders, Jamey Wolff and Susan Buckler, whose vision and determination has grown CSS into what it is today.
Kingston:
70 Kukuk Lane
Kingston, NY 12401845-336-2616
Ellenville:
4 Yankee Place
Ellenville, NY 12428845-647-6464
Specialisterne: http://specialisterne.com: This company that is based out of Denmark, specializes on giving Spectrumites a chance (and the skills) to work primarily on computer programs, are least from what I know.
As they say from their own website:
Specialisterne, which translates from Danish as “The Specialists”, is a socially innovative company where the majority of employees have a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. Employees work as business consultants on tasks such as software testing, programming and data entry for the public and private sectors.
We harness the special characteristics and talents of people with autism and use them as a competitive advantage, and as a means to help people with autism secure meaningful employment. Specialisterne has operations in numerous locations around the world.
They also work with Spectrumites from around the world, but for their USA branch, their website is: https://specialisterneusa.com/about/ which explains whom they are, the Director of the US Branch is also my cousin, just for full disclosure.
Autistic Self Advocacy Network: https://autisticadvocacy.org. This penultimate link is primarily for self advocacy for Spectrumites, this gives you a voice to what sometimes slips through the cracks as far as news for Spectrumites, by Spectrumites. I definitely recommend this source for help in self advocacy, especially for newly diagnosed Spectrumites.
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035
The ARC: I both live in my current place and also volunteer at my local ARC, which helps people with disabilities have more meaningful and productive lives. The people involved are also working on self advocacy as well as helping people with disabilities learn skills for working in and living in their respective communities.
1825 K Street, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20006
ProLiteracy: https://proliteracy.org/: Their goal is to help others attain their goals by enhancing their reading skills, as they say in their mission, it’s to:
promote adult literacy through content development, programs, and advocacy. Our goal is to change lives and communities through the power of literacy.
For people with disabilities and not, working on your literacy can be a literal game changer in many lives, especially for those who are older than I am. In my life, I’ve been able to help others with the ARC Mid Hudson’s Literacy Program, but I got the training from Ulster Literacy Association, which in turn gets their training from ProLiteracy. To help others with reading is honestly one of the proudest accomplishments in my life, it can be humbling at times as well. I’m very happy and proud to add this charity to my list of places to donate.
101 Wyoming Street, Syracuse, NY 13204
Once again, I ask you to support these and other organizations to not only help yourselves pay it forward but to also help others to improve thier lives and help us all….
Shine On!!!