Wrights Law has put
together some great resources to get you started on your journey
into Empowering your child through Self advocacy. We are
extremely happy to share this information with you.
What
is Self-Advocacy?
Self-Advocacy is
learning how to speak up for yourself, making your own decisions
about your own life, learning how to get information so that you
can understand things that are of interest to you, finding out
who will support you in your journey, knowing your rights and
responsibilities, problem solving, listening and learning,
reaching out to others when you need help and friendship, and
learning about self-determination.
Why is Self-Advocacy Important?
So that you have the knowledge needed to succeed and are given
the chance to participate in decisions that are being made about
your life.
Articles & Resources
Embracing Self-Sufficiency - University disability services
encourage students to be their own best advocates. San Antonio
Business Journal (November 12, 2007).
Pdf format
Self-Advocacy: Know Yourself, Know What You Need, Know How to
Get It by Nancy Suzanne James. "Self-advocacy is the ability
to understand and communicate one's needs to other individuals.
Learning to become an effective self-advocate is all about
educating the people around you. There are three steps to
becoming an effective self-advocate...
Self-Advocacy: A Valuable Skill for Your Teenager.
Self-advocacy is understanding your strengths and needs,
identifying your personal goals, knowing your legal rights and
responsibilities, and communicating these to others.
Learning Self-Advocacy Skills. What's the most important
skill a high school student with Asperger Syndrome or autism can
learn before he or she graduates? Run a list of candidate
skills through your head. It's a good exercise. Was
self-advocacy on your short list? I think I can make a good case
that it should be.
Self-Advocacy Tips. This article from Kids as Self-Advocates
(KASA) explains that advocacy is speaking out on an issue that
concerns you. This can mean talking to a policymaker about a
law, talking to your teachers about your IEP or talking with
your parents about something you want to do.
Self-Advocacy
Guides. The Arizona Center for Disability Law offers several
self-advocacy guides covering different disability-related legal
issues free of charge. The guides cover topics such as
employment, discrimination, assistive technology, special
education, and more.
Family Village list of resources and information on
self-determination and self-advocacy.
Organizations & Websites
Youth Information, Training and
Resources Centers (YITRC) grants are funded by the
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services’ (DHHS)
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and
Administration on
Developmental Disabilities (ADD). The goal of the YITRC
grants is to support an increasing ability of individuals with
developmental disabilities to exercise greater choice,
self-determination and to engage in leadership activities in
their communities. Here you will find
listings of all state Youth Program Centers.
Kids as Self-Advocates (KASA)
is active in representing the voice of youth living with
disabilities and chronic health conditions by speaking to policy
makers at public events and hearings, educating our communities,
including students, teachers and administrators at our schools;
medical students and physicians; and federally funded cafe and
agencies and state programs, and serving as advisors to
organizations and agencies interested in promoting youth
involvement and leadership.
Advocating Change Together
(ACT) is a grassroots disability rights organization run by and
for people with developmental and other disabilities. ACT's
mission is to help people across disabilities to see themselves
as part of a larger disability rights movement and make
connections to other civil and human rights struggles.
The Arc of the U.S. is the
world’s largest grassroots organization of and for people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities
