An adult autistic self-advocacy organization?

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Also, the reason I'm thinking that some sort of parent organization is important (e.g. non-profit) is because small groups are where a community like this would survive and thrive, but if there was no cohesive body connecting the small groups, then the small groups would start and stay as singular insular bodies disconnected from any other similar groups.

Like what you wrote on suggestions but perhaps ,not all things at any one meeting..
Advocacy in the community . Maybe important but . There we are inviting AS peeps to interact with N Ts . Not terribly apetizing , might think, at least initially . Internal support , just being comfy with one another ..could be early goal. Then sorting further group type events ,(possible aid to comfy goal). Exchanges , activities .
Pray for positive commonalities .
Hope we are onto something here ...... (okay NOW , everybody move to my neighborhood) written tongue in cheek.

Like what you wrote on suggestions but perhaps ,not all things at any one meeting..
Advocacy in the community . Maybe important but . There we are inviting AS peeps to interact with N Ts . Not terribly apetizing , might think, at least initially . Internal support , just being comfy with one another ..could be early goal. Then sorting further group type events ,(possible aid to comfy goal). Exchanges , activities .
Pray for positive commonalities .
Hope we are onto something here ...... (okay NOW , everybody move to my neighborhood) written tongue in cheek.

This shows good insight .. once established if all things came together , might solicit gov. For extra funding , once non profit is established .? Whatever good that might used be for ?

Agreed. Small steps first, see where it goes. Maybe inviting people to give talks on useful things like getting a job?

Now, a bigger umbrella group could start being more ambitious. But that's for then.

Should be a lot easier to create a larger umbrella group later on a NFP than a typical company later. Usually a merger between two for profit groups is a problem due to fears like the antitrust laws and would the merger lead to things like price gouging. I don't see this an issue, so I would find doing a merger of nonprofit group A in one area with non-profit organization B in another area to make a single larger group.

I can't really imagine the local groups being incorporated, so legal issues shouldn't crop up. What would they have to incorporate for? Buying a clubhouse?

Would need to be incorporated if you have any intent on getting funding of any kind. You have to be able to keep a checkbook to show where said funds are being dispursed and show whether or not you are making a profit. Having an online group only may not be that pressing but as far as having a "clubhouse" the incorporated part would be a necessity.

There are several such groups in the UK -
For the whole UK, there are "Autistic UK" and "Autistic Inclusive Meets".
In Reading, there is "Autistic Pride Reading".
In Edinburgh, there is "Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh".
In the Scottish highlands, there is "Autism Rights Group Highland".
In Cambridge, there is "Autistic Pride Cambridge".
Etc. etc. etc.
There are also similar groups in Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Finland, Israel, etc.
If you want to get in touch with specific groups (around Europe), then let me know which countries you are interested in and I'll give you their contact details.

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Maybe just start smaller .. ways to contact ? Or meet ups

Agrees . Withis idea.. maybe just make connections ? Meet up or linking together somehow ..

I think it's best to organize bottom-up rather than top-down. What we need is some kind of leadership council that brings together leaders (or other representatives) of already-existing local groups of autistic adults, e.g. peer-led support groups.

The council could perhaps hold occasional conferences, but I don't think that should be a top priority. The first priority should just be to get a bunch of representatives of different groups together in a series of online chats.

Anyhow, in the long run, I think we need two main kinds of groups, both of which could be affiliated with the above-suggested leadership council:

1) Local support / self-help groups.

2) Regional groups of people who work in, or desire to work in, particular categories of professions / occupations / jobs. Hopefully the latter organizations, once they become visible, will spur the development of more autistic-friendly workplaces too.

Your ideas on this subject are always something I welcome, Mona. The council you suggest is in line with what I'm talking about with there being an organization. Bottom up sounds good, but in order for a leadership council that would coalesce the geographically dispersed small groups, the leadership council would need to exist. In that sense, the organization aka leadership council or whatever else it would be called would have to be formed in order to prompt a network. In this sense, top down.

This is the challenge: Start entirely "bottom up" and each small group stays autonomous and oblivious to other groups and the formation of small groups would remain spontaneous and not driven by any organizational motivation.

I'm going to spend as much free time as I desire into researching the formation of an organization as well as working on forming a local group in my community since nothing like that exists now.

On the collaboration factor for those that would be interested in pursuing anything related to this, there is a free online collaboration tool called: slack.com. It's a place where ideas can be exchanged and things can be worked on as a group. I'm thinking of creating a Magna gmail account to use for the purpose of online collaboration and brainstorming.

Have you checked out the AANE,there located in Boston.

Thanks for this link. I will be perusing the site and reading their annual reports! This is great.

Your welcome,yea check out there website