Autreat 2008

Post Reply New Topic

You can ask at the Autreat Information List: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/autreatinfo/
The list is for people who are planning to attend or are considering attending Autreat. People can use the list to get information as soon as it becomes available from the planning committee, to ask questions of people who have been to Autreat before, to get to know each other online before meeting at Autreat, to coordinate ride-sharing, choose roommates, and other types of personal planning for Autreat.

But the great leader has already arrived: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Sinclair
(just joking)

No, it is going to be in the Pennsylvania Strip.

Please circulate widely:

Autreat is a retreat-style conference run by Autism Network
International, for autistic people and our families, friends,
supporters, and interested professionals. We are accepting
presentation proposals for Autreat 2008, to be held Monday-Friday,
June 23-27, 2008, at a small campus near the New York-Pennsylvania
border, approximately 80 miles from Buffalo.

FOR HELP PREPARING A PROPOSAL:

If you want to submit a proposal but you have trouble reading these
instructions and putting your proposal in the requested format,
contact Jane Meyerding, jmeyerding @ earthlink.net, for help. Send only
plain text messages, with no attachments.

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 most who attend find the
presentations to be of interest, 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 expect that you will be speaking *to* us, not speaking to
non-autistic people *about* us.

We are interested in presentations, 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 presentations 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 presentation 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.

AUTREAT AIMS TO BE WELCOMING AND RELEVANT TO THE BROADEST POSSIBLE
CROSS-SECTION OF THE AUTISTIC POPULATION.

Autreat is attended by autistic people who speak and by autistic
people who do not speak;

by autistic people who communicate fluently and by autistic people who
have limited communication;

by autistic people who live independently and by autistic people who
need intensive support with daily living;

by autistic people who have jobs and by autistic people who live on
disability benefits;

by autistic people who are able to present as "socially acceptable"
and by autistic people who require support to help them manage their
behavior;

by autistic people who have been labeled "high-functioning" and by
autistic people who have been labeled "low-functioning"--including
some autistic people who have had *both* labels, at different times or
under different circumstances.

While it is not expected that any one presentation will be of interest
to each and every autistic person, we do look for presentations that
will appeal to the widest possible audience.

We are *not* interested in presentations that reinforce what we
consider to be artificial distinctions between members of our
community who are labeled "low-" vs."high-functioning."

A NOTE 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 their own experiences in a new way.

Your proposal should describe what participants can expect to get out
of your presentation, not just what personal experiences you're going
to talk about.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PRESENTATION TOPICS OF INTEREST

If you have never attended Autreat before, please review the ANI web
site (www.ani.ac) and the past Autreat brochures
(http://www.ani.ac/past-workshops.htm), and contact Jim Sinclair
(jisincla @ syr.edu) 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?

If you submit a proposal, we expect you to be available to attend
Autreat if we accept your proposal, and to give your presentation on
the day and time scheduled. We make every effort to accommodate
presenters' preferences in setting the Autreat schedule, but it is not
always possible to give every presenter his or her preferred time
slot.

Presenters are expected to send advance copies of any handouts or
slides 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 presentations to be
recorded, and for the recordings to be sold by Autism Network
International.

Presenters are invited to attend all of Autreat. If presenters opt not
to attend the entire event, they are expected to arrive on-site by
8:30 a.m. for afternoon presentations, and to arrive the night before
for morning presentations.

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 in a shared (2-person) room.

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 recording of
their presentations.

PROPOSALS SHOULD INCLUDE:

* Your name and title (if any) exactly as you want them listed in
program materials should your proposal be accepted

* Contact information (address, phone, fax and/or email if you have them)

* Title of your proposed presentation

* Detailed description for consideration by the Planning Committee

* Brief (5 sentences or less) abstract exactly as you want it listed
in program materials should your proposal be accepted

* Indicate ONE theme that BEST relates to your proposed presentation:

[ ] Advocacy skills
[ ] Life skills/adaptive strategies
[ ] Helpful support services
[ ] Communication
[ ] Social/interpersonal issues
[ ] Autistic community and culture
[ ] Education
[ ] Employment
[ ] Family issues
[ ] Residential issues
[ ] Disability rights and politics
[ ] Autism research and theory
[ ] Other (describe):

* Indicate which group(s) you believe would find your proposed
presentation of interest. Check as many as apply. Briefly describe
what your presentation would offer to each group:

[ ] Autistic adults
[ ] Autistic teenagers
[ ] Family members of autistic people
[ ] Educators
[ ] Clinicians
[ ] Service providers
[ ] Other (specify):

* Brief (5 sentences or less) presenter bio exactly as you want it
listed in program materials should your proposal be accepted

* Any audiovisual equipment you would need for your presentation

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.

PROPOSAL DEADLINE:

April 1, 2008

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Proposals can be submitted via email to Jim Sinclair
(jisincla @ syr.edu), or via postal mail to ANI at the address below, or
submitted online at www.ani.ac/aut08cfp.php.

WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO PRESENT, BUT I HAVE AN IDEA FOR A PRESENTATION
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 www.ani.ac/autplan2.php.

Autism Network International
P.O. Box 35448
Syracuse NY 13235
USA

Autreat 2008 will be held approximately 80 miles from Buffalo. (for security reasons, the exact location can't be posted here).

About food at Autreat 2008 (quoted from autreatinfo list):

The prepaid meal plan is completely vegan--therefore no cow's milk,
other animal milk, or other things that come from cows or other
animals. Each meal should also have some gluten-free items available,
though it is NOT an entirely GF menu. We'll ask the kitchen staff to
clearly label which items are gluten-free.

At our new venue, there's also a cafe on campus that has standard
fast-food fare (burgers, etc.), which is decidedly non-vegan. It's not
part of Autreat, it's just a resource on campus, open during the
summer between the hours of 10-2, on a pay-as-you go basis.

Also, lodging at the new venue is in apartments: up to 6 people per
apartment, and each apartment has a small kitchen in it. So if people
do opt to bring their own food, either instead of or in addition to
the meals that will be served in the dining room, there are little
dorm-size refrigerators, microwave ovens, and sinks and cupboards in
the apartment kitchens. No stovetops, and no dishes or cooking
utensils. If you need those, you'd need to bring your own. But you can
definitely bring pre-cooked food, store it in the refrigerator, and
reheat it in the microwave.

If we can have one hour of pool time after dinner, which would people
prefer: 7:30-8:30, or 8:00-9:00?

The final presentation of the day ends at 6 p.m. Dinner is served
between 6-7:30 p.m.

If we have the earlier evening pool time, it might be more convenient
for families with children who want to have time for swimming before
their bedtime. If we have the later evening pool time, people wanting
to swim would be less rushed to get from the presentation through
dinner and then to the pool.

Which do more people prefer?

This year's fee table has been uploaded to the Files section. People anxious to hurry up and register can use those fees, and plug the numbers into last year's registration form. If you do that, be sure to use the fee categories (A-H) from *this* year's fee table, not last year's categories. Some new fee categories have been added this year due to the new venue charging less for children.

Autreat proposals
Posted by: "Jim Sinclair"
Wed Apr 2, 2008 11:18 am (PDT)
All proposals received for Autreat 2008 have now been forwarded to the
Autreat Planning Committee for consideration, and a confirmation email
has been sent to the people who submitted the proposals. If you tried
to submit a proposal, and you have not received an email from me
confirming that it was received, that means I did not receive it.
Please let me know immediately if this is the case, and try again to
send your proposal.

What will now happen is: The full Autreat Planning Committee will
discuss and then vote on the proposals. If the Committee has any
questions or wants any clarification about your proposal, I will send
you an email on behalf of the Committee, and I will forward your
replies back to the Committee. When the Committee finishes voting (we
usually allow about a week for that), I will send you an email
notifying you of our decision.

Please note that I send these notifications on behalf of the Autreat
Planning Committee. The decisions are made by majority vote of the
full Committee. Each Committee member, including myself, carries one
vote only. Neither I nor any other Committee member makes unilateral
decisions about the acceptance or rejection of proposals.

On behalf of the Autreat Planning Committee, thank you to everyone who
submitted a proposal.

Jim Sinclair
Coordinator, Autism Network International

Please cross-post everywhere that the Autreat Call for Proposals was posted.

Page 1 of 4

Page 2 of 4

Page 3 of 4

Page 4 of 4

I'm going to be giving a talk at autreat.

A description of Autreat 2008's scheduled presentations is available here:
http://ani.autistics.org/aut08presentations.html

The deadline for early registration discounts to attend Autreat is
just one week away on Sunday June 1st. If you are considering
attending Autreat, but have not registered yet, please register by
either filling the online registration form here:
http://ani.autistics.org/aut08regform.php

or by downloading a pdf registration form here:
http://ani.autistics.org/BROCHURE2008booklet.pdf

*Advance registration is required to attend Autreat.*

For updated Autreat Information Page, go to:
http://ani.autistics.org/aut08.html

To find out about this year's presentations, go to:
http://ani.autistics.org/aut08presentations.html

Please distribute the above information freely.