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Autreat 2003 will be held June 29-July 2, 2003, in the Adirondack region
of New York State. Autreat is a retreat-style conference run
by Autism
Network International. We are now accepting proposals for workshops
to be
presented at this year's Autreat.
WHAT KINDS OF WORKSHOPS ARE WANTED AT AUTREAT?
Autreat is very different from typical autism conferences. When
preparing
a proposal for consideration, be aware that the primary audience
at
Autreat is autistic people. Parents and professionals do attend,
and we
try to have presentations that will be of interest to them too, but
Autreat is basically autistic space. Be sure your information
is being
presented in a manner that is both helpful to and respectful of autistic
people.
We are interested in workshops, by either autistic or non-autistic people,
about positive ways of living with autism, about functioning as autistic
people in a neurotypical world, and about the disability movement and
its
significance for autistic people.
We are not interested in workshops about how to cure,
prevent, or
overcome autism. We do not appreciate having non-autistic
people come
into our space to talk to each other about how difficult we are to
deal
with, or how heroic they are for putting up with us. If your
workshop is
geared toward the interests of parents or professionals, it should
focus
on positive ways of appreciating and supporting autistic people, not
on
reinforcing negative attitudes about autism and autistic people.
A word about "personal experience" presentations:
Be aware that everyone at Autreat either knows what it's like to be
autistic, or knows what it's like to care about someone who is autistic.
All of us have our own personal stories. Presentations about
the
presenters' personal stories are not going to generate much interest,
unless you're able to use your story in a way that will help other
people
to share and understand our own experiences in a new way. Your
proposal
should describe what participants can expect to get out of your workshop,
not just what personal experiences you're going to talk about.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WORKSHOP TOPICS OF INTEREST
If you have never attended Autreat before, please review the ANI web
site
(www.ani.ac), the list of past workshops
at www.ani.ac/past-workshops.htm
and the past Autreat brochures, and contact Jim Sinclair
(Jim Sinclair)
if you have questions, to make sure you
understand what Autreat is about and whether your topic is relevant
to
ANI's philosophy.
WHAT IS EXPECTED OF PRESENTERS?
Presenters are asked to commit to giving their workshop twice during
the
course of Autreat, to allow more people to attend. We will try
to
accommodate presenters' schedules as much as possible, in terms of
scheduling both sessions of your workshop on the same day or on two
different days, according to your preference.
Presenters are expected to send advance copies of any handouts or
transparencies they plan to use, so that we can prepare alternate format
copies for print-impaired attendees.
Presenters are expected to submit an article on their topic for inclusion
in the program book. These also need to be submitted in a timely manner,
so we can prepare copies in alternate formats.
Presenters are expected to consent for their workshops to be videotaped,
and for the tapes to be sold by Autism Network International.
Please be prepared to meet these expectations if you decide to submit
a
proposal.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR THE PRESENTERS?
Autreat presenters receive free registration, including on-site meals
and
lodging.
ANI is a volunteer-run, member-supported grassroots organization with
minimal funding. We cannot reimburse for off-site expenses, nor can
we pay
travel expenses or honoraria. If your proposal is accepted, we
will send
you a formal letter of invitation if this would help you in raising
your
own travel funds.
Presenters are entitled to receive one free copy of the videotape of
their
workshop (whichever session is chosen to be the one copied and sold).
PROPOSALS SHOULD INCLUDE:
If you have never presented at Autreat before, please also include
an
introduction for the planning committee summarizing your relevant
experience, including any presentations or other education/advocacy
activities elsewhere, and the nature of your interest in autism and/or
in
general disability issues.
HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
Proposals can be submitted via email to Jim Sinclair
(Jim Sinclair),
or via snailmail to ANI at the address below.
WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO PRESENT, BUT I HAVE AN IDEA FOR A WORKSHOP I'D
LIKE TO SEE?
If you want to make suggestions for Autreat presentations, or make
comments about previous presentations or presenters, please fill out
the
questionnaire available at http://ani.autistics.org/autplan2.txt
and send
responses via email to Jim Sinclair,
or print out a copy and
send it via snailmail to ANI at the address below.
Autism Network International
P.O. Box 35448
Syracuse NY 13235
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