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.

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.

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

Inclusion, Advocacy & Self-Determination Websites

• ADAPT http://www.adapt.org

• Employment For All http://www.employmentforall.org

• Inclusion Research Institute http://www.inclusionresearch.org

• People First of Missouri http://www.missouripeoplefirst.org/

• People First of New Hampshire http://www.peoplefirstofnh.org

• Self-Advocate Leadership Network http://www.hsri.org/leaders/

• Self Advocates Becoming Empowered http://www.sabeusa.org

• WeCAHR http://www.wecahr.org

Listservs

Kids as Self-Advocates online forum