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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) and the past Autreat brochures, and contact Jim Sinclair
(jisincla@mailbox.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?

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:

* Title of your proposed workshop
* 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
* 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/email if you have them)
* 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 workshop

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, 2003.


HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Proposals can be submitted via email to Jim Sinclair
(jisincla@mailbox.syr.edu), 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 jisincla@mailbox.syr.edu, or print out a copy and
send it via snailmail to ANI at the address below.


Autism Network International
P.O. Box 35448
S