Self-Advocacy

As a child with a disability or a teacher who teaches children with disabilities, self-advocacy is very important to learn. When given the right tools, those children can become the best advocates for themselves and those with disabilities. Once the child makes the transition out of school and becomes an adult, those skills will be invaluable! Below you will find great resources on self-advocacy.

The website you can find by going to http://www.ldpride.net/selfadvocacy.htm is a great tool referencing learning disabilities and how to work with it. As a child with a disability, it’s key to know what he/she could do to stand up for him/herself and teach others about the world of disabilities. http://www.ldpride.net/chapter10.htm is the specific chapter on self-advocacy for people with learning disabilities. It’s easy to read and is easily understood by children too.

An online article that also hits on kids with learning disabilities and self-advocacy can be seen at http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/2522. It focuses on teenagers but it involves many areas such as communication, identifying support and tips on actively participating in being a self-advocate.

http://www.selfadvocacy.com/ is a website run by people with disabilities to support a nationwide movement in self-advocacy. It’s based out of Minnesota but it’s a place that wants to make a difference for people with disabilities and self-advocacy.

A useful self-advocacy tool can be found at http://www.postitt.org/activities/unit01/Section1.pdf . It’s made up of activities to help a child with a disability understand their disability and abilities, as well as their accommodations and means for becoming a self-advocate.

Some self-advocacy resources are listed at http://thechp.syr.edu/matonsa.htm. You can find other websites, articles and informational centers on self-advocacy that would be helpful for anyone wanting more.