Sometimes, people might not know vocabulary about sexuality and gender. Please add suggestions to the following so that we can keep each other informed! Please feel free to offer suggestions on existing definitions, too.

Bisexual- attracted to Male and Female partners; sometimes used by people who are also attracted to non-binary gender.

Pansexual- Gender is not relevant to attraction- these individuals often just say they are attracted to "people".

Multisexual- Similar to pansexual, but might have a slight preference for a specific gender so do not feel that pansexual is entirely accurate.

Homosexual- attracted to someone of the same gender or sex.

Heterosexual- attracted to someone of the opposite gender or sex (in binary gender models).

Lesbian- a Woman who is attracted to other women.

Asexual- Doesn't feel sexually attracted to other people.

Aromantic- Doesn't feel romantically attracted to others.

Homoromantic- Romantically attracted to memebers of the same gender or sex.

Heteroromantic- Romantically attracted to members of the "opposite" gender or sex.

Is there a local chapter you'd like to recommend of an advocacy organization? A smaller group? Share it here!

 Hi guys! I wanted to let you know what this Section is and isn't for, and some rules specifically for this section (you should also adhere to the Forum Rules, of course.)

What Is Personal Advocacy?

Personal Advocacy is addressing the issues that you personally are facing. This covers a wide range of things, from issues with an IEP or other plan, to speaking up about your needs with your doctor or other service provider, to getting help navigating the legal system. For some people, it might even be as simple as learning how to tell a parent or other care giver what you need, or as complicated as escaping an abusive situation. Keep in mind that most of the people here are not lawyers, and that if you face legal issues you should contact a lawyer. You could ask for help finding a lawyer that deals with your specific issue, though, or help with navigating the justice and/or other systems, though!

A lot of times people use abbreviations in advocacy, and this can get really confusing, especially when you are new to advocacy. 

This thread is a place to share the different Abbreviations, What they Mean, and to Ask about any Abbreviations you are unfamiliar with. As we get more, I will add them to this post in alphabetical order. 

The Master List

Hi guys! I wanted to let you know what this Section is and isn't for, and some rules specifically for this section (you should also adhere to the Forum Rules, of course.)

What Is Community Advocacy?

Community Advocacy is, of course, advocacy that you do in the community. This ranges from taking on an issue with a policy at the local school board to State level work such as sitting on a board or protesting in your state capital about a state policy. You are representing more than one individual with community advocacy, often in hopes of changing a rule or policy that effects the community in some way. Or you may be organizing a group of individuals on the same issue in order to speak out about a local issue.

What is not Community advocacy is a specific case, unless it is being used to organize around an issue. National level work is, for the convenience of this site, not included in this section. For more info on what does not go here, click here.

Formatting

Hi! I'm, Savannah, I'm dropping in to make sure that all the Youth know about some opprotunities that are out there! If you have more Advocacy and Self-Advocacy leads for teens, let me know so that I can add them!

1. ASD Specific Organizations
2. Cross Disability Organizations
3. State Level Organizations

Autism Spectrum Specific