Its not easy to be… A Self-Advocate Copyright@2003 by Jamie Van Dycke

Two of the hardest things for people with disabilities to do are: Talk about their disability Identify their strengths

What do you know… Write down the word Self-Awareness What does “Self” mean? What does “Awareness” mean? What does the word mean when you put it together?

Some of our best information for helping students with disabilities comes from self-advocates- The Students themselves.

What do you know…. Write down the word Self-Advocate What does “Self” mean? What does “Advocate” mean? What does the word mean when you put it together?

Definition of Self-Advocacy The action of representing oneself or one’s views or interests. Must have Self-Awareness to be able to be a self-advocate

How do I build Self-Advocacy Skills There’s nothing easy about being a self-advocate, and talking about your disability. But it will get better with time and practice.

Students know early “I’ve known since I was in third grade that something was ‘wrong’ with me. I wish someone had explained LD to me then.”

The Other Side “There’s nothing easy about having an IEP. Going over to the other side without being seen -- that’s hard. I don’t want people to know I have an IEP.”

Good at something… “You want me to tell you something I am good at? I am good at flunking. I am good at messing up. How’s that?”

Best advice “My best advice for becoming a self-advocate? It is so hard to talk about your disability. I still get embarrassed. But you get a little more used to it. Friends are the hardest. If you can tell your friends, you can tell anybody.”

The Assignment- 20 points The best way to practice is to create your own scenario You may work with a partner or by yourself You will develop a character by answering the questions on the worksheet. This will be used as an outline for your story. (10pts) You will write two paragraphs involving your character 1. Identifying the area of need and the setting of the story. Describe the situation that has arose that requires the character to address. (5pts) 2. Describe how the character handled the situation through self-advocacy. It must include the character’s disability and the situation that required him or her to become a self-advocate and what was the positive outcome of the situation.(5pts)