Haven for the Human Amoeba

1. My name is Jacob and Im 25 years old.

2. Male

3. Im White/Native American

4. Fremont, California near San Francisco

5. Im a virgin and proud of it.

6. Im attracted to both genders equally

7. Im open about non-sexuality?

8. Im looking for a life long companion.

9. I will never have children.

10. I love to touch and hug. I like nude snuggling.

11. Im proud to be what I am. My sexuality isnt a choice.

12. I want a companion and like kissing and quite good at it by what Ive been told.

13. Im have an autism spectrum disorder called aspergers syndrome.

14. Ive never been sexually abused.

15. My best friend and I are about the same age different by 3 months. I noticed I have no sex drive since I was 9 years old.

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 jisincla@... Coordinator, Autism Network International

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

Hi I'm new here!

I am also a member of AVEN. But I would say I'm asexual, because ever since puberty, I've had no interest in sex or dating for that matter. I've never had a hard time with saying no to sex. I just figured this out about a year and a half ago. So basically, I'm just trying to find support and friends!

We will be having the first Phoenix Area Asexual Meetup on Saturday, May 24 at 1 pm.

We're meeting for lunch at My Big Fast Greek Restaurant on Mill Ave in Tempe and then possibly going to find some AVEN Cake.

Contact me (LaLunaVerde on AVEN) if interested!

Hi there,

I am interested in talking to you. Would you call me 720-329-1171 or I can call you. I have free long distance.

Karen

Hope to hear from you.

We will be having the first Phoenix Area Asexual Meetup on Saturday, May 24 at 1 pm.

We're meeting for lunch at My Big Fast Greek Restaurant on Mill Ave in Tempe and then possibly going to find some AVEN Cake.

Contact me (LaLunaVerde on AVEN) if interested!

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

I just sent this post to a dog rescue group.

There should be "matchmaking" sites and services for people seeking life-work kind of partnerships, not just dating-and-marriage partnerships. Wouldn't that be neat?

J8

---------- Forwarded message ----------

How many rescuers are single? How do single people manage it?

Routine care and feeding for lots of animals, okay, that can be manageable for one person. (I'm talking about numbers like my current five dogs and seven cats, not the kind of hoarder situation where there are hundreds.) If I have to take time to feed one dog and/or cat, poop-scoop the yard and clean litterboxes every day, plan my activities around making sure a dog isn't stuck in the house without a potty break for too many hours, then it doesn't take a whole lot more time to fill several bowls at feeding time, scoop more poop, let more dogs out to go potty. More money, yes, but not a lot more time.

But then when you start doing rescue, you have non-routine care needs. This one has to be fed on a different schedule, or a different food, or in a separate room from the other ones. This one is new and needs to be quarantined. This one has a medication schedule. Both of these have separation anxiety and freak out destructively when left home alone. That one doesn't sleep through the night. How do I take one to the vet, be home to give another one's medication on schedule, and avoid being away for longer than the one on a separation desensitization program can tolerate? How do I get enough sleep, have time to eat and shower and do laundry and buy groceries and take care of myself?

Then there's the amount of attention rescue dogs need to deal with behavioral problems and possibly rehabilitate emotional damage. Finally get one housetrained and socialized and taught decent manners, and then (hopefully) that one gets adopted, and in comes another one and you need to start all over again.

What about transports? When I'm in Michigan staying with my mother, I can fit six or more dogs into my van and do 600-mile transport runs (provided my gas is funded), because while I'm out driving the transport, my mother is taking care of my own zoo. When I'm at home in New York, even doing a single transport leg could conflict with the special care needs of one of the animals left at home.

And I don't even have a job. I'd really like to have one. But suppose I did--how would I manage all the animals then?

If I had a rescue partner or a network of partners, one person could drive a transport while the other stays home with the animals. One person could be doing routine feeding and cleanup while the other is attending to the special needs. If a bunch of animals all need to go get vaccinations at the same time, two people could take them together, instead of just me trying to handle all of them. If both people are employed, work schedules could be adjusted so the animals aren't left home for too long.

Has anyone ever been successful at arranging something like this? How would you go about it?

Interesting question. I'm not quite as active as you are but I di have a bunch of fur and scale babies. Right now I have 3 dogs, 3 cats, a rat and a turtle. Plus I am sitting my daughter's Pit Bull and Parrot. I am lucky to have a roomer in my house that petsits for me when I have to go out of town. This is not without it's problems though. I am grateful that my roomer and rescue Pit Bull love each other. The only rescue I've done though is taking in strays and I only have 1 left. My 13 year old mutt wandered in about 12 years ago and stayed. I have fostered baby kittens for a cat rescue though.   I really like your idea of networking with other people who could help out or transport. Wouldn't mind even hanging around with like minds.   Do you live in New York? I'm only asking because I may be moving to western New York in about a year. Mary

Loking for like minded friends for chat. Am 60 yr old widow in OR.

Nice to meet new friends!

Secondseason

The title says it all really so just looking around to see new people with the same feelings

Hi Cherie,   Welcome to the group. It's pretty slow around here lately. Tell us more about you. I am in my 60s too and enjoying retirement with lots of volunteer activities. Mary

Loking for like minded friends for chat. Am 60 yr old widow in OR.

Nice to meet new friends!

Secondseason

Yahoo! Groups Links

Participants Needed in Voluntarily Celibate Romantic Relationship Study

Purpose of Study: We are conducting research on the ways celibate partners communicate with each other and with outsiders regarding their celibate romantic relationships. Voluntarily celibate romantic relationships are relationships where participants in the relationship abstain from sexual intimacy for the duration of the relationship.

Participation Criteria: In order to participate in this study you must meet the following criteria: 1) You must be at least 19 years-old 2) Be in (or have been in) a voluntarily celibate romantic relationship and 3) Have been in the relationship for a minimum of three months.

What Study Includes: - Approximately one-hour long interview - Interviews will be audio-recorded and ask you to answer a number of open-ended questions about your romantic relationship. - All responses to these interview questions will be kept confidential and at no time will your identity be revealed in the analysis and or reporting of research results.

Your participation is completely voluntary. At any time throughout the interview you may choose not to answer any question(s) and you are free to leave at any time that you do not feel comfortable.

Interested? Please contact Diana Breshears or Darren Epping in the Communication Studies department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln: dianab@... or darren.epping@...

Cross-posting and offline sharing is permitted and encouraged:

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 2009, to be held Monday-Friday, June 29-July 3, 2009, in Bradford, Pennsylvania (approximately 80 miles from the nearest major airport at Buffalo, New York).

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 cfp-help@... 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 interested in educational and informative presentations, not in sales pitches for a presenter's products or services. If you are representing a commercial enterprise and would like a forum to sell products or services at Autreat, please contact us for information about attending Autreat as a vendor.

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@...) 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 asked 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?

Individual Autreat presenters receive free registration for Autreat, including on-site meals and lodging in a shared (2-person) room. (A private room may be available at the presenter's own expense.) This free registration is for the presenter *only*, not for a presenter's family members or support staff.

In the case of panel presentations consisting of three or more presenters, we offer one complete four-day Autreat registration, plus a single-day registration (including three meals and one overnight, if desired) for each additional panelist. Therefore, a panel of X presenters is entitled to a total of 4+(X-1) free days/overnights. Panelists may divide these free days amongst their members as they wish. Panel presenters are of course welcome to register and stay for additional days, at their own expense.

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 [ ] Personal/self-awareness/self-development 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:

February 15, 2009

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Proposals can be submitted via email to proposals@..., or via postal mail to ANI at the address below, or submitted online at www.ani.ac/aut09cfp.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

Copy this page and send it to the group with the appropriate answers.

1. Name/age: Jeff

2. Gender: Male

3. Race: White

4. Geographic Location: Nashville, Tennessee

5. Have you ever had sex? yes, was married for nearly 10 years.

6. What gender, if any, are you attracted to? Female

7. Are you open about your non-sexuality? NOPE!

8. Are you married? No, divorced And if not, do you ever want to get married? YES Do you crave non-sexual romance? YES

9. Do you have or want children? YES (stillborn child)...other than she, no. I want children...houseful if possible. :)

10. Do you like ANY human contact? Of course!

11. Are you bothered by your asexuality? A little, but I amok if my partner is with me.

12. Do you date or desire companionship? Yes Do you like to kiss? Yes

13. Have you ruled out possible medical/psychological reasons for your disinterest in sex? Yes...seent he doctors, I am otherwise healthy.

14. Were you sexually molested as a child either by adults or other children? Nope (not to myknowledge anyway)

15. When did you first start to realize that you were different from other people in terms of your sexuality? Young adulthood

30 year old asexual woman in mass just wanted to say hello

Hi Ashley, I'm 28 and live in MA too. Welcome to the group :)

-Christina

Hello from the same in Texas :-)

30 year old asexual woman in mass just wanted to say hello

Hi Texas,

I'm in Denver, looking to chat with people on the phone.  Is anyone up for it?

Rene

Hello from the same in Texas :-)

Ashley <confusedone72@ hotmail.com> wrote:

30 year old asexual woman in mass just wanted to say hello

I'm in Syracuse, New York, surrounded by dogs and cats.

Jim Sinclair jisincla@... www.jimsinclair.org http://moosepuppy.petfinder.com

Hi Texas,

I'm in Denver, looking to chat with people on the phone. Is anyone up for it?

Rene

On 2 Feb 2009, Mary Hancock said:

From

Mary Hancock <maryhncck@...>

Subject

Re: [Haven for the Human Amoeba] Hello

To

[email protected]

Date

Monday, February 2, 2009, 12:39 PM

Hello from the same in Texas :-)

Ashley <confusedone72@ hotmail.com> wrote:

30 year old asexual woman in mass just wanted to say hello

--- In [email protected],

I'm from Texas as well, Austin to be more precise. 31 m. Any more Texans?

Hello from the same in Texas :-)

Ashley said:

30 year old asexual woman in mass just wanted to say hello

Cross-posting and offline sharing is permitted and encouraged:

Just a reminder that February 15 is the deadline for submitting proposals for Autreat 2009.

This is NOT the deadline for registering to attend Autreat. Registration hasn't even started yet. (Watch the ANI web site or the Autreat Information group for a registration announcement in early March.) This is just the deadline for submitting a proposal to give a presentation at Autreat.

To submit a proposal, either use the online form at www.ani.ac/aut09cfp.php , or read the Call for Proposals below, fill out the information in the "PROPOSALS SHOULD INCLUDE" section, and send it by email to proposals @ autreat. com (remove spaces).

If you try to use the online form and get a server timeout error, keep trying. The server gets busy sometimes.

This is the end of the ten-day reminder notice. The remainder of this post is a repeat of the Call for Proposals that was already posted before, in case anyone wants to use it for an email submission.

Jim Sinclair jisincla@... Coordinator, Autism Network International www.ani.ac

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 2009, to be held Monday-Friday, June 29-July 3, 2009, in Bradford, Pennsylvania (approximately 80 miles from the nearest major airport at Buffalo, New York).

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 cfp-help @ autreat. com (remove spaces). 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 interested in educational and informative presentations, not in sales pitches for a presenter's products or services. If you are representing a commercial enterprise and would like a forum to sell products or services at Autreat, please contact us for information about attending Autreat as a vendor.

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, remove spaces) 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 asked 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?

Individual Autreat presenters receive free registration for Autreat, including on-site meals and lodging in a shared (2-person) room. (A private room may be available at the presenter's own expense.) This free registration is for the presenter *only*, not for a presenter's family members or support staff.

In the case of panel presentations consisting of three or more presenters, we offer one complete four-day Autreat registration, plus a single-day registration (including three meals and one overnight, if desired) for each additional panelist. Therefore, a panel of X presenters is entitled to a total of 4+(X-1) free days/overnights. Panelists may divide these free days amongst their members as they wish. Panel presenters are of course welcome to register and stay for additional days, at their own expense.

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 [ ] Personal/self-awareness/self-development 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:

February 15, 2009

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Proposals can be submitted via email to proposals@ autreat. com (remove spaces), or via postal mail to ANI at the address below, or submitted online at www.ani.ac/aut09cfp.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

Cross-posting and offline sharing is permitted and encouraged:

Just a reminder that February 15 is the deadline for submitting proposals for Autreat 2009.

The online submission form at www.ani.ac/aut09cfp.php appears to be having major problems. If you use it to type in your proposal, it's a good idea to save a copy of the proposal in a text file, before clicking the button to submit the proposal. If the server has a problem, it could everything you typed in. Save a backup before hitting the "Submit" button.

Alternatively, you can submit a proposal using the form below, in the body of this email. Forward this email to proposals @ autreat. com (remove spaces), then fill in the required information below:

* 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 [ ] Personal/self-awareness/self-development 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:

February 15, 2009

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Proposals can be submitted via email to proposals@ autreat. com (remove spaces), or via postal mail to ANI at the address below, or submitted online at www.ani.ac/aut09cfp.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

Hey I like the questionairre and think it's about time all of us pop in with answers to the questions. This group has been much too quiet lately. Copy this page and send it to the group with the appropriate answers.

1. Name/age: Mary 63

2. Gender: Female

3. Race: White

4. Geographic Location: Southern California

5. Have you ever had sex? nope

6. What gender, if any, are you attracted to? Male

7. Are you open about your non-sexuality? Somewhat

8. Are you married? No And if not, do you ever want to get married? YES Do you crave non-sexual romance? YES

9. Do you have or want children? Yes I have an adopted daughter now 28

10. Do you like ANY human contact? Of course!

11. Are you bothered by your asexuality? A little only because I crave companionship and love and have never gotten it. 12. Do you date or desire companionship? Not anymore... can't find anyone Do you like to kiss? It would depend on how attracted I am to the person

13. Have you ruled out possible medical/psychological reasons for your disinterest in sex? Yes...seent he doctors, I am otherwise healthy. I have had a couple of pap tests that have been extremely painful and this may be a contribution

14. Were you sexually molested as a child either by adults or other children? Nope, I had a wonderful childhood.

15. When did you first start to realize that you were different from other people in terms of your sexuality? Young adulthood

Hey I like the questionairre and think it's about time all of us pop in with answers to the questions. This group has been much too quiet lately. Copy this page and send it to the group with the appropriate answers.

1. Name/age: Katharine

2. Gender: Female

3. Race: mutt

4. Geographic Location: Florida

5. Have you ever had sex? yes

6. What gender, if any, are you attracted to? androgynous

7. Are you open about your non-sexuality? Somewhat

8. Are you married? yes And if not, do you ever want to get married? Do you crave non-sexual romance? YES

9. Do you have or want children? No children but interested

10. Do you like ANY human contact? Yes

11. Are you bothered by your asexuality? I find it interesting but difficult

12. Do you date or desire companionship? I desire more spiritual intimacy Do you like to kiss? depends

13. Have you ruled out possible medical/psychological reasons for your disinterest in sex? Yes and no, I have some medical problems that may relate but find my spiritual understanding draws me to more asexual relations.

14. Were you sexually molested as a child either by adults or other children? No

15. When did you first start to realize that you were different from other people in terms of your sexuality? Young adulthood

Oops, I copied over the last questionairre but didn't edit out Mary's message. Anyway, just answering it for myself...

Copy this page and send it to the group with the appropriate answers.

1. Name/age: Katharine

2. Gender: Female

3. Race: mutt

4. Geographic Location: Florida

5. Have you ever had sex? yes

6. What gender, if any, are you attracted to? androgynous

7. Are you open about your non-sexuality? Somewhat

8. Are you married? yes And if not, do you ever want to get married? Do you crave non-sexual romance? YES

9. Do you have or want children? No children but interested

10. Do you like ANY human contact? Yes

11. Are you bothered by your asexuality? I find it interesting but difficult

12. Do you date or desire companionship? I desire more spiritual intimacy Do you like to kiss? depends

13. Have you ruled out possible medical/psychological reasons for your disinterest in sex? Yes and no, I have some medical problems that may relate but find my spiritual understanding draws me to more asexual relations.

14. Were you sexually molested as a child either by adults or other children? No

15. When did you first start to realize that you were different from other people in terms of your sexuality? Young adulthood

1. Name/age: Mary 56 2. Gender: Female 3. Race: Human 4. Geographic Location: Texas 5. Have you ever had sex? yes 6. What gender, if any, are you attracted to? male 7. Are you open about your non-sexuality? Yes 8. Are you married? yes And if not, do you ever want to get married? Do you crave non-sexual romance? YES 9. Do you have or want children? Yes 10. Do you like ANY human contact? Yes 11. Are you bothered by your asexuality? No - but I wish I had discovered it much sooner. 12. Do you date or desire companionship? N/A Do you like to kiss? depends 13. Have you ruled out possible medical/psychologic al reasons for your disinterest in sex? Yes . 14. Were you sexually molested as a child either by adults or other children? No 15. When did you first start to realize that you were different from other people in terms of your sexuality? I think when I was in high school. I could not understand what the big attraction was. I was the only one of my group who was not boy crazy. I could always visualize myself as a mom but not as a wife. Until I discovered what my sexuality is I was labeled frigid and puritanical. It is a relief to know at last that I am not those things. I feel very free now.

Hey I like the questionairre and think it's about time all of us pop in with answers to the questions. This group has been much too quiet lately. Copy this page and send it to the group with the appropriate answers.

1. Name/age: Katharine

2. Gender: Female

3. Race: mutt

4. Geographic Location: Florida

5. Have you ever had sex? yes

6. What gender, if any, are you attracted to? androgynous

7. Are you open about your non-sexuality? Somewhat

8. Are you married? yes And if not, do you ever want to get married? Do you crave non-sexual romance? YES

9. Do you have or want children? No children but interested

10. Do you like ANY human contact? Yes

11. Are you bothered by your asexuality? I find it interesting but difficult

12. Do you date or desire companionship? I desire more spiritual intimacy Do you like to kiss? depends

13. Have you ruled out possible medical/psychological reasons for your disinterest in sex? Yes and no, I have some medical problems that may relate but find my spiritual understanding draws me to more asexual relations.

14. Were you sexually molested as a child either by adults or other children? No

15. When did you first start to realize that you were different from other people in terms of your sexuality? Young adulthood