AuSM Annual Report 2023
Looking back on another impactful year for the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM), my mind tries not to linger too long on the past – because the present and future more urgently compete for our attention. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but with so much yet to do, we resist complacency. Every story in this annual report needs a successful sequel, and then another. Keep watching – and come with us. Our mission is fueled by your engagement and support.
We’re honored and humbled to be in a position to help people who need our programs and services, and it’s our privilege to respond to the needs of our shared community. Knowing that we’re in this together sharpens our resolve, and buoys our spirit. Our work is a team sport, and we are so glad you’re on our team. We’re grateful for your engagement in our cause and our community.
If the important disability rights issues being discussed at the Capitol feel personal to you, we can connect you with others looking to make actionable change. If you or a family member have been diagnosed but are unsure of next steps, we’ve walked many others through this, and we’ll be with you. Connect with us and we’ll connect you with compassionate people who’ll understand your experience, and share their hard-earned empathetic wisdom. Even if you just need to be heard, reach out. You are not alone; we are each other’s community.
The autistic leadership we see emerging throughout our community inspires us. Your energy toward helping build inclusivity quickens our pace as we chase change for the better, working toward a Minnesota where all of us can thrive. Our nonprofit organization has served as Minnesota’s First Autism Resource for well over a half-century; by now, you can count on our resilience – and our readiness to keep finding new ways to improve the lives of people throughout our community.
-Ellie Wilson, AuSM Executive Director
Who Is AuSM?
The mission of the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) is to create connections, empowering everyone in the autism community with the resources needed to live fully.
AuSM seeks to enhance the lives of all who are part of the Minnesota autism community, with a fundamental commitment to advocacy, education, support, collaboration, and community building.
WE SEEK TO
- Advocate for legislation and policies that lead to improved services, increased opportunities, and greater self-determination for people with autism.
- Educate and inform individuals, families, professionals, and the broader community about autism and effective strategies for support and inclusion.
- Support individuals and families through quality programs, counseling services, and resource information.
- Collaborate with organizations and individuals who share our commitment to enhancing the lives of those affected by autism.
- Build community and provide a welcoming and accessible environment for autistic people to connect and form their own social bonds.
AuSM Board of Directors
- Jenna Matteson-Laabs, President
- Keith Guggenberger, Vice President
- John Skillings, Treasurer
- Jon Ruzek, Secretary
- Paul D’Arco, Past President
- Laura Detloff, Autistic Community Liaison
- Tom Cox
- Joyner Emerick
- Nick Engbloom
- Deequaifrah Hussein
- Michelle Law-Pink
- Paul May-Kramer
- John Pribyl
- Nichole Thomas
- Tamonna Combs
Our Programs By the Numbers
Counseling
AuSM provided neurodiversity-affirming therapy services to over 350 clients in 2023, totaling over 4,570 hours of counseling.
AuSM Classes
Through our workshops, Understanding ASD classes, and Direct Support Certification program, we educated 486 community members about autism.
Summer Camps
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, AuSM Summer camps were held at full capacity. We ran six sessions of camp during summer 2023, hosting 266 campers.
Testimonial
–Sally Fields, Mom of Camper“Camp Hand in Hand and the staff are simply amazing! This is an experience that Matthew does not get anywhere else. Absolutely unbelievable! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Training
Our Education department provided over 100 training sessions to approximately 50 different organizations across the state of Minnesota, reaching hundreds of community members with vital information about autism.
Online Resources
We created 28 new online resources that are available for free on our website, and added links to dozens of others created by community organizations.
Community Events
1,155 people attended our community events, including the Minnesota Autism Conference, Steps for Autism, Cocktails for a Cause, the Autistic Community Summit, and the AuSM Jigsaw Puzzle Competition.
Testimonial
[The Autistic Community Summit] was AMAZING! Thank you for organizing it. It was my first time attending and I felt like I truly belonged there.
Information and Resources
Information and Resources is one of AuSM’s core programs, and we offer it for free to anyone who contacts us. In 2023 we responded to hundreds of emails, texts, and phone calls through our Information and Resources. This was the first year we were able to offer text services.
Social and Recreation Programs
Over 100 students were part of our social and recreation programs throughout 2023, with another 140 adults who attended our Adult Coffee Club, which launched in 2023.
Support Groups
440 people attended our Support Groups in 2023, including Women’s Support Group, LGBTQIA+ Support Group, Independent Adults with ASD Support Group, and Family Members of Adults on the Spectrum Support Group.
Testimonial
–Support Group Participant“AuSM has been really helpful for my best friend (and by extension me) over the last several years. She attends the support groups regularly and often tells me how much she enjoys socializing with people who accept her without reservation. They help her understand herself and others.”
Our Values: Living Our Mission in 2023
Throughout 2023, AuSM has worked to bring our mission to life through new programs, initiatives, and improvements. Check out the work we’ve been doing to empower everyone in the autism community with the resources needed to live fully.
Advocacy
AuSM is a Neurodiversity-Affirming Clinic
In recent years, autistic adults have shared how important it is for them to receive care from neurodiversity-affirming providers. Neurodiversity refers to the fact that human beings have a wide variety of minds, sensory systems, and ways of processing the world. To be a neurodiversity-affirming provider means not simply accepting the fact of neurodiversity, but embracing it. Neurodiversity-affirming providers do not try to change the way their clients’ brains work. Instead, they focus on supporting a person as they are, provide support to exist in a neurotypical-dominated world, and focus on helping clients find fulfilling and effective strategies for their own lives.
Advocating to End Subminimum Wage
Minnesota’s 2023 legislative session brought historic progress from lawmakers in the ongoing work to eliminate subminimum wage in Minnesota, advocacy that AuSM supports. The Task Force on Subminimum Wages – co-chaired by Jillian Nelson, AuSM’s Community Resource and Policy Advocate – made several funding recommendations for the governor’s bill.
Education
Recreating the Professional Networking Group
After a three year hiatus, AuSM’s therapists saw that it was time to bring back our Professional Networking Group, but with some vital improvements to make it more accessible to providers. 2023 saw the launch of the new Professional Networking Group, with over 20 attendees for our first session.
AuSM Therapists Show Respectful Thought-Leadership in Speaker Presentations
Two of AuSM’s therapists, Sara Lahti and Beth Pitchford, made major presentations at state and international conferences this year. Their work was recognized for its innovation and thought leadership.
Support
Information and Resources Team Adds Services, Expands Communicative Availability
As a free service to our community, AuSM provides practical advice for individuals and families struggling to navigate systems, understand options, and obtain services and support to fit their needs. In 2023, we added a vital component to our Information and Resources services: texting.
Vaccine Education Initiative: National Initiative Making Local Impact
As an affiliate of The Autism Society of America, AuSM shares the national org’s belief that improving the vaccination experience is a critical step toward achieving more equitable healthcare for people with autism and all neurodiverse individuals. As part of our strategic partnership on health equity, the Vaccine Education Initiative (VEI) is a national program that AuSM implements locally to address systemic barriers while promoting vaccine education, confidence, and access.
Collaboration
Multicultural Communities Experience AuSM Camp Through Pilot Family Camp Program
In October 2023, AuSM piloted a family camp session for Somali and Oromo families affected by autism. Anyone who’s been to camp knows it’s a powerful experience, but we now know that summer-camp feel comes on just as strong in the fall – during just one long weekend.
Educational Partnership Furthered with Neighboring Autism Society of Greater Wisconsin
AuSM furthered its collaboration with the Autism Society of Greater Wisconsin throughout 2023 as co-hosts of virtual conference content in April and as co-presenters of our popular workshop, Language Development in Neurodivergent and Other Gestalt Language Processors in December.
Community
Speed Friending with MNeurodivergent
More and more each year, AuSM heightens its focus on providing social opportunities for autistic adults to build community together. We can’t do this alone, and wouldn’t want to when the better alternative is working with exceptional partners like MNeurodivergent. In November 2023, we co-hosted the first of what will be many Speed Friending events with MNeurodivergent.
Based on the idea of speed dating, this Speed Friending initiative is a great way to for autistic adults in our community to connect with a lot of people in a structured-but-not stuffy way. Participants meet several new people, with a shared intent to start and build friendships with fellow neurodivergent folks. The first session was so popular that we already have plans to partner for more Speed Friending events with MNeurodivergent.
Introducing: AuSM Coffee Club
AuSM’s Coffee Club launched in 2023, providing regularly-scheduled opportunities for autistic adults in our community to socialize, create and build bonds, and meet new people on an ongoing basis at Dogwood Coffee in St. Paul.
Jean Bender Honored with AuSM’s Inaugural Changemaker Award
Jean Bender stepped away from AuSM’s Board after a decade of compassionate service during which she held nearly every board-officer position and grew into a fierce-but-friendly force in advocating among legislators for disability rights as human rights. We surprised Jean by presenting her with AuSM’s first-ever Changemaker Award for her extraordinary legacy of service.
Testimonial
–Joyner Emerick, AuSM Board MemberJean, I don’t know how to express what you’ve meant to me as a friend, mentor, parenting coach, advocate, community connector, opportunity manifester, and thought partner, but I can tell you that you are family … You have answered every call I have put out for assistance and support in my attempts to help Foxy obtain equitable access across life domains. You have sat through four hour long IEP meetings with us (more than once!), attended county and Medicaid assessments, gone over documents dozens of pages long, researched policy and case law with me, and helped me help educators and administrators see my child’s unique strengths and needs. There is no way to adequately thank the person who shows up tirelessly on behalf of your vulnerable child, and yet I know it’s just a tiny piece of what you give to the Minnesota Disability Community. You walk through this world and leave a trail of open doors behind you. It’s a legacy that drives and inspires me. I am so grateful to know you and to have been touched by your work. Thank you, Changemaker Jean Bender.
Financials
AuSM is dedicated to transparency, accountability, and financial health. All donations given to AuSM support programs and services for our local autism community. In 2023, no further COVID-19 relief funds were received by AuSM. Our operational income and expenses are noted in the chart below. AuSM’s 2023 AFR (administrative and fundraising rate), which is the sum of fundraising and administrative expenses divided by total revenues, was 18.5%.
2023 Expenses:
Programs: $1,985,438 = 82.9%
Fundraising: $199,288 = 8.3%
Admin: $209,304 = 8.7%
TOTAL: $2,394,030
2023 Income:
Programs: $1,759,290 = 79.8%
Fundraising: $427,186 = 19.4%
Admin: $17,958 = 0.8%
TOTAL: $2,204,434
All financial information provided at the time of the annual report is tentative, pending our annual audit. We will file the IRS 990, the primary source of public information about any nonprofit’s financial activity, after our audit. When these records are finalized, they will be posted at https://ausm.org/about/financials/.
Our Community
AuSM is made up of people: people we serve. People who volunteer. People who support each other. People who work to make Minnesota a better place every day. Thank you to our community for making AuSM the place it is!
Take Action
Want to be a part of AuSM’s mission and empower everyone in the autism community with the resources needed to live fully? Here are actions you can take!
Donate: your gift sustains the work that helps the Minnesota autism community. Donations stay local, and every dollar counts.
Fundraise: take your impact further by hosting a fundraiser for AuSM.
Volunteer: Share your time with AuSM through volunteer opportunities connected to acceptance and fundraising events, special office projects, and more.
Advocate: Part of AuSM’s mission is ensuring that our laws and public policies support individuals and families living with autism. AuSM is committed to helping your voice be heard.
Become a Member: AuSM membership connects you to a common community that acts without judgment, nurtures potential, advances knowledge, and builds awareness.
Sign Up for Our Newsletter: Keep on top of everything AuSM is doing by subscribing to our twice monthly newsletter
Thank You 2023 Premier Partners
