Last night Karen and I went to the 2nd annual ASAN Gala at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. It was even nicer than last year’s event, which was also very nice. There was a reception with excellent food and drink, followed by the opening speakers.
First to speak was the evening’s host and MC, James Weisman, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the United Spinal Association. I like him. He is a great speaker and tells funny jokes. Mr. Weisman has been doing amazing things for disability rights for many years.
Next, Ari Ne’eman spoke. Simply put, Ari is awesome. He is easily one of the best speakers I have ever seen. His passion for disability advocacy is infectious (in a good way) and I could see it spreading across the room as he spoke about how all autistics must be included in conversations about the autistic community, and not just those who are verbal and/or seen as “high functioning”. He is an inspiration to many people, including myself, and an example of how much can be done by self advocates. Ari was appointed by President Obama in 2009 to sit on the National Council on Disability and is the President and co-founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
Kathy Greenlee, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Aging and Administrator of the Administration on Community Living spoke next, followed by Kathleen Martinez, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy. Both women spoke about how important it is for disability rights activists to work together and not just for their own particular disability. They made the point that when organizations work together, they have more power to create change.
We had a very good dinner of stuffed acorn squash for the vegetarians and chicken and green beans for the non-vegetarians, followed by dessert, which resembled a triangular brownie.
Madeleine Will was presented with the Ally of the Year Award, which is an award given to individuals who go above and beyond in serving as allies of the Disability community. Next, Steve Kapp was presented with the Award for Services to the Self Advocacy Movement, an award given to those who have helped to build the Autistic community through exceptional advocacy, ingenuity, or service.
The Loud Hands Project video was shown. It was so great that I embedded it into this post. The Loud Hands project is organized by Julia Bascom.
The night was a great success all around and we left feeling excited after hearing about all the accomplishments by ASAN and other advocacy groups and individual advocates this year. So many people working so hard and so continuously to make the world a better place, not only for people with their own particular disability of interest, but for all disabled people.
It was also wonderful to get to meet so many of the people that I have worked with or known only online and to get to see friends who I do not get to see very often.
Thanks so much to ASAN for another great gala!