This page is a work in progress and will never represent the full scope of available resources, projects, organizations, publications, and other tools that may be helpful to you. However, we hope that for autistic people of color and our allies in the broader autistic and disabled communities will find these resources to be of help.
last updated January 2024 by Lydia X. Z. Brown
By/for autistic people of color
Alistas Bajo Cuerda. Anonymous blog in Spanish. From the author: “Soy una persona autista con diagnóstico. Estudié grado de Farmacia. Soy una persona no binaria.”
Aprender a Quererme. Blog by Mónica Vidal Gutiérrez in Spanish.
Autismo, Liberación y Orgullo. Blog by Sara María Acevedo and Mónica Vidal Gutiérrez in Spanish. From the site: “Entrada publicada originalmente en octubre 17 de 2016 con la participación de Manuel Díaz. Somos tres autistas de habla hispana y también tenemos el privilegio de hablar inglés. Esto nos ha permitido informarnos y recibir apoyo de varias comunidades neurodivergentes, los verdaderos expertos, cuyo apoyo ha sido clave en el desarrollo de un entendimiento no patológico sobre nuestros diferentes estilos neurocognitivos.”
#AutisticBlackPride and #BlackAutisticPride Twitter conversations. Hashtags created originally by Kayla “BeingMe” Smith.
Autistic People of Color, Indigenous People, and Mixed-Race People. This is a private Facebook group open to autistic people of color around the world, originally created in 2013. Anyone can visit and request to join; only existing group members are able to access other group members’ names.
#AutisticWhileBlack Twitter conversation. Hashtag created originally by Kerima Çevik, who blogs at Intersected Disability, The Autism Wars, and Brave.
Barking Sycamores. A literary magazine published by and for queer neurodivergent people of color, with N.I. Nicholson as Editor in Chief and V. Solomon Maday as Editor.
Neurodivergencia Latina. Blog by Manuel Díaz in English and Spanish.
The Secret Life of a Black Aspie: A Memoir by Anand Prahlad. From the publisher: “Anand Prahlad was born on a former plantation in Virginia in 1954. This memoir, vividly internal, powerfully lyric, and brilliantly impressionistic, is his story. For the first four years of his life, Prahlad didn’t speak. But his silence didn’t stop him from communicating—or communing—with the strange, numinous world he found around him. Ordinary household objects came to life; the spirits of long-dead slave children were his best friends. In his magical interior world, sensory experiences blurred, time disappeared, and memory was fluid. Ever so slowly, he emerged, learning to talk and evolving into an artist and educator. His journey takes readers across the United States during one of its most turbulent moments, and Prahlad experiences it all, from the heights of the Civil Rights Movement to West Coast hippie enclaves to a college town that continues to struggle with racism and its border state legacy. Rooted in black folklore and cultural ambience, and offering new perspectives on autism and more, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie will inspire and delight readers and deepen our understanding of the marginal spaces of human existence.”
Traduciendo Autistas. Translations of English-language posts by autistic people about autism into Spanish.
Other funding sources
These funding sources may or may not be currently accepting applications or providing support. Please check with each organization individually before applying.
The Black Parent Support Fund. From the organization: “The Black Parent Support Fund is a fund that directly gives resources to Black families where parents are living with mental conditions, or supporting children living with mental conditions. These are the priority populations for the fund, however BEAM recognizes that all parents are living in distress during these times and all applicants are considered. The Fund gives economic gifts of $200-$500.00 as well as support with tailored virtual workshops, and when possible, individualized support.”
Crip Fund. From the organization: “Crip fund is an ad-hoc care collective comprised of disabled, chronically ill, and immunocompromised people who are pooling funds for direct distribution to chronically ill, disabled, and immunocompromised people in serious financial need living in the United States during COVID-19. This is a collective effort but because we don’t have a collective bank account, the funds will be deposited into a designated CRIP FUND account under one of the organizer’s names, Park McArthur. The funds will be disbursed from this account via Venmo and Paypal to self-identified chronically ill, disabled, and immunocompromised people who requested funds via our form.”
Mental Health Fund for Queer and Trans People of Color (sponsored by the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network). From the website: “The Mental Health Fund (MHF) for Queer and Trans People of Color began in 2017 in response to the increased violence, threats, surveillance, and instability following the presidential election in 2016. The MHF provides financial assistance to queer and trans people of color to increase access to mental health support for QTPoC by QTPoC*. The program is designed to provide financial support for QTPoC to work with psychotherapists in an effort to address the economic barriers inherent in healthcare and the mental health system. The Mental Health Fund provides financial support for up to 6 sessions with a psychotherapist. Applicants can request up to $100 per session.”
Organizations working on disability justice, disability rights, and neurodiversity
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network. A national nonprofit organization founded by Ari Ne’eman and Scott Michael Robertson. From the website: “The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. We work to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!”
The Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network. A national nonprofit organization founded by Sharon daVanport supporting and advocating for autistic women, girls, nonbinary people, and all other autistic people of marginalized genders. From the website: “The mission of Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN) is to provide community, support, and resources for Autistic women, girls, nonbinary people, and all others of marginalized genders. AWN Network is dedicated to building a supportive community where we can share our experiences in an understanding, diverse and inclusive environment. AWN is committed to recognizing and celebrating diversity and the many intersectional experiences in our community.”
Coalición Nacional para Latinxs con Discapacidades (National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities). A national nonprofit organization. From the website: “We imagine a society in which the human rights of Latinxs with disabilities are upheld and all their intersecting identities are embraced. We work in solidarity to affirm, celebrate, and collectively uplift Latinxs with disabilities through community building, advocacy, protection of rights, resources, and education. Imaginamos una sociedad en la que se respeten los derechos humanos de Latinxs con Discapacidades y se aceptan todas sus identidades cruzadas. Trabajamos en solidaridad para afirmar, celebrar, y elevar colectivamente a los Latinxs con discapacidades a través de la construcción de comunidad, la promoción, la protección de los derechos, los recursos y la educación.”
The Color of Autism Foundation. A national nonprofit organization founded by Camille Preston supporting families of African American autistic children. (Note: The website links to several biomedical type resources, rather than those in alignment with the principles of neurodiversity.)
Communication First. A national nonprofit organization founded by Tauna Szymanski to advance civil rights for people who use alternative and augmentative communication. From the website: “To educate the public, advocate for policy reform, and engage the judicial system to advance the rights, autonomy, opportunity, and dignity of people with speech-related communication disabilities and conditions.”
The Deaf Poets Society. An online journal of deaf and disabled literature and art.
Disability Justice Culture Club. Founded by Stacey Milbern Park. From the website: “The Disability Justice Culture Club is an activist house in East Oakland, CA designed w accessibility in mind. It serves as a gathering place for disabled BIPOC community via events, meetings, meals.”
The Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Lending Library. Founded by Lei Wiley-Mydske. From the website: “The Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Lending Library offers books, resources and information on autism from a neurodiversity and disability rights & justice perspective to the communities of Stanwood and Camano Island, WA. The mission of the Ed Wiley Autism Acceptance Library is to promote understanding, acceptance and inclusion for Autistic people. Our organization is dedicated to the ideas of neurodiversity, social justice, Autistic/Disabled Pride and disability rights. The lending materials we offer will reflect the wide and diverse scope of autism and intersectional identities. We are working toward building an inclusive community and providing relevant resources and information for Autistic people, our families, friends and allies.”
Fireweed Collective. A national organization that serves as a successor to The Icarus Project. From the website: “Fireweed Collective offers mental health education and mutual aid through a Healing Justice lens. We help support the emotional wellness of all people, and center the needs of those most marginalized by our society. Our work seeks to disrupt the harm of systems of abuse and oppression, often reproduced by the mental health system. We strive to cultivate a culture of care, free of violence, where the ultimate goal is not just to survive, but to thrive as individuals and as communities. We envision a world in which all communities get to self-determine the source of their care, medicine, and wellness. The Staff of Fireweed Collective consist of individuals whose work is informed by experiences of mental health-based issues and oppression. This wonderful group of healers, cultural workers, community organizers, and rabble rousers brings energy and wisdom to our strategic and programmatic direction.”
Foundations for Divergent Minds. Founded by Oswin Latimer and Shalia Martin. From the website: “Foundations for Divergent Minds is a registered 501(c)(3) education organization based in Texas. Founded by Autistic and Neurodivergent people, we aim to offer a variety of Neurodiversity-based education for families and professionals who work with neurodivergent children. Our education comes in several formats including a regularly updated blog, a course for parents in how to set up their home, and professional development course for educators, therapists and service providers to better understand and meet the needs of their students and clients.”
The Harriet Tubman Collective. From the website: “A Collective of Black Deaf & Black Disabled organizers, community builders, activists, dreamers, lovers striving for radical inclusion and collective liberation.”
Health Justice Commons. Founded by Mordechai Cohen Ettinger. From the website: “The Health Justice Commons works at the intersections of racial, economic, gender, disability, and environmental justice to support marginalized communities to re-imagine and re-design healthcare and healing for our times. We provide health justice training and consultation, engage in healing justice movement building, and incubate community-driven solutions, which generate health abundance and alleviate the devastating health burden of social injustice and environmental racism.”
Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities (HEARD). A national nonprofit organization founded by Talila A. Lewis (TL). From the website: “Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (HEARD), is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that promotes equal access to legal system for individuals who are deaf and for people with disabilities. HEARD primarily focuses on correcting and preventing deaf wrongful convictions, ending deaf prisoner abuse, decreasing recidivism rates for deaf returned citizens, and on increasing representation of the deaf in the justice, legal and corrections professions. HEARD created and maintains the only national database of deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind detainees & prisoners.”
The Icarus Project. A national nonprofit founded by Sascha Altman DuBrul and Jacks McNamara. From the website: “The Icarus Project is a support network and education project by and for people who experience the world in ways that are often diagnosed as mental illness. We advance social justice by fostering mutual aid practices that reconnect healing and collective liberation. We transform ourselves through transforming the world around us.” (inactive)
Mocha Autism Network. A Bay Area network for parents of Black and Latinx autistic children.
The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies (formerly Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies). Co-led by Shaylin Sluzalis & Germán Parodi. From the website: “The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies (The Partnership) is the only U.S. disability-led organization with a focused mission of equity for people with disabilities and people with access and functional needs throughout all planning, programs, services and procedures before, during and after disasters and emergencies. The Partnership prioritizes equity, access, disability rights, disability justice, and full inclusion of people with disabilities, older adults, and people with access and functional needs before, during and after disasters and emergencies. We recognize that prevention, planning, response, recovery and mitigation must start with and be led by multiply marginalized disabled people who are the most disproportionately impacted.”
Project LETS. Founded by Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu: “Project LETS is a national grassroots organization and movement led by and for folks with lived experience of mental illness/madness, Disability, trauma, & neurodivergence. We specialize in building just, responsive, and transformative peer support collectives and community mental health care structures that do not depend on state-sanctioned systems that trap our folks in the medical/prison-industrial complex. We work for and with multiply marginalized folks in our communities to provide access, political education, & material resources that are needed to survive and thrive. We believe in a world without systems of oppression, where non-carceral responses to crises are the norm!”
Rest for Resistance, QTPoC Mental Health. A magazine and national nonprofit founded by Dom Chatterjee. From the Rest for Resistance website: “Rest for Resistance strives to uplift marginalized communities, those who rarely get access to adequate health care or social support. This includes Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Asian, Middle Eastern, and multiracial persons. We also seek to create healing space for LGBTQIA+ individuals, namely trans & queer people of color, as well as other stigmatized groups such as sex workers, immigrants, persons with physical and/or mental disabilities, and those living at the intersections of all of the above. Founded in March 2015, QTPoC Mental Health is a grassroots trans-led org that creates online and offline spaces for trans & queer people of color to practice being our whole selves.”
Sins Invalid. A performance art project founded by Patricia Berne and Leroy Franklin Moore, Jr. From the website: “Sins Invalid is a disability justice based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and LGBTQ / gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized. Led by disabled people of color, Sins Invalid’s performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment and the disabled body, developing provocative work where paradigms of “normal” and “sexy” are challenged, offering instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all bodies and communities.”