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Gloria Self
James Meadours
Martin
Self Advocacy Is
Self Advocacy
Self Advocacy in Easy to Read.
All people, regardless of ability, have the right to speak for themselves, to voice their opinions, and to make decisions that affect the course of their lives. The concept of self advocacy rests upon this right. Among people with an intellectual disability, self advocacy means people speaking out for themselves, either directly or with supports. Regardless of the severity of an intellectual disability, it is possible to listen to people as they communicate their needs and desires.
Self advocacy works at both the individual and group levels. At the individual level, self advocacy assumes that each person has the right to stand up for herself or himself and that people can be empowered to do so. At the group level, self advocacy is part of a larger civil rights movement that aims to represent people who, as a group, have historically and systematically been discriminated against and barred from full inclusion in society. While self advocacy is part of the larger disability rights movement in many parts of the world, it is primarily focused on issues of concern for people with intellectual disabilities.
As an idea and a movement, self advocacy began in the 1960s-1970s. People with intellectual disabilities in Europe and the United States began organizing and speaking out--for their rights, and against the discrimination that they experienced. They began to publicly voice their concerns. Several permanent self advocacy organizations were formed, among them People First and Self Advocates Becoming Empowered. The name People First, in particular, has reached around the globe as numerous self-advocacy groups have shared and adopted the title.
Today, self advocacy groups and individual self advocates work world-wide speaking up for their rights. Some of the actions undertaken by self advocates include offering opportunities for empowerment to people with intellectual disabilities; ensuring that people with intellectual disabilities are involved in the process of making decisions about their own lives; developing and hosting conferences; building self advocacy skills; and raising public awareness about issues of concern to people with intellectual disabilities.
In this section you will find publications and reports and other useful links related to self advocacy.