Community Outreach and Self-Advocacy, with Cassie Harden Scott and Russell Hornig-Rohan | TBT

*THROWBACK EPISODE*

This episode with Cassie Harden Scott and Russell Hornig-Rohan was originally released on August 20, 2020.

Discover what’s possible when community outreach begins with empowerment. 

Our guests today are two members of our Global Autism Project family: Cassie Harden Scott and Russel Hornig-Rohan, or Rusty for short. 

Cassie and Rusty have been involved with the Global Autism Project for over 6 years. Both of them began as volunteers on SkillCorps trips to several of our partner sites – including Centro ACAP in the Dominican Republic, which you may remember from Episode 20. SkillCorps is an opportunity for self-advocates and professionals to visit autism centers around the world, working directly with their local teachers and therapists while providing sustainable training. If you’d like to know more about our SkillCorps volunteer program, please listen to episodes 4 and 17, featuring round table discussions with a few other members of our community. 

Over time, Cassie and Rusty each stepped into roles related to outreach and advocacy. Cassie is currently our Director of Outreach and works closely with our partners to help spread autism awareness and acceptance in their communities. Rusty is an autism self-advocate, as well as a polyglot whose impressive abilities have helped his teams cross language barriers while abroad. 

In today’s conversation, Cassie and Rusty share how they got involved with the organization and why they’re passionate about its mission. They also reminisce about trip highlights and recount fun stories from when they were working together at our office in Brooklyn, New York. 

We discuss some of the different outreach initiatives that can be carried out, from supporting parents and professionals to giving presentations at universities. Stay tuned until the end of the episode to hear about ways to engage in advocacy work from your own home. 

For more information about our work, please visit globalautismproject.org. 

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