1. Self-Advocacy Dom Lupisan Yunior Hernandez California State University, Northridge April 12, 2011

2. What is Self-Advocacy?

3. What is Self-Advocacy? Self-advocacy refers to an individual’s ability to effectively communicate, convey, negotiate or assert his or her own interests, desires, needs, and rights It involves making informed decisions and taking responsibility for those decisions

4. Self-Advocacy Cont’d Self-advocacy is understanding your strengths and needs, identifying your personal goals, knowing your legal rights and responsibilities, and communicating these to others Self-Advocacy is speaking up for oneself. Until recently it was a concept used more for adults with disabilities, but increasingly it is recognized as a tool to speak for our needs

5. History of Self-Advocacy The term “self-advocacy” can be traced back in the late 1960’s when young adults with disabilities began speaking out about taking an active role in planning their lives and the programs that supported them This journey of self-education is an ongoing process, as individual needs change over time There are three parts to becoming an effective self-advocate: knowing yourself, knowing your needs, and knowing how to get what you need

6. How Does it Relate to You? The collegial educational journey is an ongoing process, as individual needs change over time Freshman: Transition to a new environment Sophomore: Feeling connected (Do I matter?) Junior: Internships, job opportunities Senior: Graduation, new job, graduate school

7. Quote of the Day “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” – William James (Philosopher, Psychologist)

8. Personal Experiences with Self- Advocacy Discuss our experiences in college and life about how we have self-advocated and what results we acquired from doing so

9. Group Activity Break into groups of 5 Discuss self-advocacy Talk about a time when you self-advocated Talk about a time when you decided to stay silent and why you decided to take such action

10. How to Practice Self-Advocacy Language use “I” statements Understand power structure Know what you want