Self-Advocacy & Self-Advocacy Ally Support

Self-advocacy is speaking for yourself and the things that are important to you.  It also means having the right to make your own decisions and choices and accepting responsibility for them.  Self-advocacy is used as a name for the civil rights movement for people with intellectial and developmental disabilities (I/DD).  Self-advocacy is part of the broader civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s and is part of the disability rights movement. People who practice self-advocacy are called self-advocates.

Self-advocacy includes understanding your rights and involves self-advocates:

• Communicating to others what you want and need
• Setting goals for what you want to achieve and do 
• Making decisions for what is best for you and taking responsibility for your choices 
• Being assertive and standing up for yourself in a respectful way 
• Getting information to make informed decisions 
• Finding solutions to problems that affect you 
• Asking for help and support when you need it 

If you are interested in becoming involved in The Arc's self-advocacy please complete the interest form below.

The 4 components of self-advocacy are:

Person First

• Many people with I/DD have been treated as less than human (dehumanized) throughout their lives. By saying they are a person first, individuals with I/DD want to be known as more than their disability.  They deserve the same rights and opportunities as people without disabilities.  For this reason, many people with I/DD prefer person-first language.  In person-first language, you say "people with developmental disabilities" or "person with Down syndrome".  The self-advocacy movement is also very against the use of mental retardation, retarded, or any variation as there is a great deal of stigma and discrimination with the term.

Self-Determination & Dignity of Risk

• Self-determination is the right of all people to make their own choices. Choices are often denied to people with I/DD. People under guardianship do not get to make their own decisions about where they live and how they spend their money.  Self-advocates work for the replacement of guardianship with supported decision making where people can make their own decisions, with support from friends, family or professionals. 
• Dignity of risk is the idea that everyone has the right to make mistakes and to take risks. Many people with I/DD are stopped from making their own decisions, out of fear that they could make bad decisions. Dignity of risk says that the right to take risks and make mistakes is an essential human right. For example, a person with an intellectual disability could go to college, even if they might have trouble passing their classes.

Community Living

• Community living is the idea people should live in the community and not in institutions. Institutions segregate people away from their homes, families and friends. People with I/DD should receive the supports that they need to live where they want to. This is also a core value of the independent living movement.

Equal Employment & Education

• Self-advocates believe people with I/DD and other disabilities deserve the right for equal opportunities in all areas of life, especiallyin  education and employment.
• Before the self-advocacy movement, many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were not allowed to attend school. Families had to either keep their children with I/DD at home or send them to an institution.  Institutions were supposed to provide education. Institutions specifically for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were called state schools. However, the education provided was insufficient or nonexistent. These "schools" turned into warehouses, full of abuse and neglect.
• In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for Handicapped Children Act (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). This law entitles all children to receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). The law requires schools to provide students with accommodations and support to attend school. The least restrictive environment clause means that students must be, whenever possible, educated in mainstream classrooms with their non-disabled peers. Despite this, many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are segregated in special education classrooms and not given the accommodations they need to succeed.  Unfortunately, this segreagation also occurs in employment.

If you wish to learn more or become a part of The Arc's Self-Advocacy program, please complete this form here.  We'll be in touch soon!