The Importance of Self-Advocacy

Self-advocacy: The ability to speak up for yourself and the things that are important to you.

Take a moment and think about a time where you had to advocate for yourself. Were you pursuing a goal? Communicating a want? Expressing a need to be treated in a certain way? All these instances are examples of self-advocacy.

Oftentimes, you may not even notice when you’re advocating for yourself. For most people, even if the idea of self-advocacy is intimidating to think about, it is still something that is acceptable for them to do.

Please note: This concept has a lot of nuances to it that shouldn’t be skipped over – such as differences in socioeconomic status, race, or gender, to name a few. Today, however, we are focusing on self-advocacy for people with disabilities versus people without them.

People with disabilities, on the other hand, have historically had a complicated relationship (to say the least) with advocating for themselves. While non-disabled people might look at self-advocacy as more of a chore than a privilege, those with disabilities have faced many barriers throughout history in gaining the right to… fight for their own rights.

Despite the importance of self-advocacy for people with disabilities, the opportunity to advocate for oneself has not always been recognized as something that disabled people should possess. In today’s blog, we’ll be going over some background on self-advocacy for disabled people, what that means in terms of disability rights today, and how best to support self-advocacy being extended to everyone.

History of Self-Advocacy for Disabled People

While the exact origin of self-advocacy for people with disabilities is likely tied to multiple events, an especially significant instance was marked in Sweden in the late 1960’s.

Dr. Bengt Nirje, a Swedish doctor and important figure in developmental disability rights, founded a club for people with and without developmental disabilities, that organized various outings to partake in together. The one rule of the club went something like this: non-disabled members of the club must not interfere with their disabled peers’ ability to make their own decisions, even if those decisions involved “mistakes.”

Though this might seem like a basic idea to a modern reader, the concept of people with disabilities being fully allowed to dictate their own lives was something of a radical thought during this time. This club gave people with developmental disabilities the space to practice self-advocacy in a way that was likely unavailable to them before.

In addition to his efforts with the club, Dr. Nirje also delivered a paper at the 11th World Congress of the International Society for Rehabilitation of the Disabled in 1969 that introduced his findings on self-advocacy on a wider level than ever before. This led to more conferences and discussions on the subject, and the once-radical ideas of people with disabilities advocating for themselves inched closer to acceptance.

Later in the 20th century, as the movement progressed, advocate groups often created parameters and goals for the concept of self-advocacy. These typically covered things like what they believed self-advocacy should look like – and what it could potentially accomplish. We’ll get into more of the key aspects of self-advocacy in the next section, but to summarize, these goals usually focused on legislation, stereotypes, and inclusivity.

For an even broader history of disability rights, check out our recent blog on the history of developmental disabilities.

Key Points of Self-Advocacy

Many organizations today that focus on people with disabilities have similar values when it comes to self-advocacy for disabled people. Some of these ideas stem from the aforementioned findings of the self-advocacy movement throughout the past 50 years.

A short list of these key points includes:

• • Being a person first, not a disability
  • Right to decision-making
  • Recognizing the value of every person
  • Equality and empowerment
  • Cooperation between people with disabilities and people without them
  • Non-labeling

These concepts are usually part of the baseline for self-advocacy. For another example of what position statements on self-advocacy typically include, visit this page from the ARC.

Continuing the Self-Advocacy Movement

After reading about the history of self-advocacy for disabled people, you may be wondering how you could help keep this momentum going. Though it may seem counterintuitive at first glance, the number one way that you can create space for people with disabilities to practice the self-advocacy that they deserve is to do just that: create space.

Though the people close to them may feel that they are providing necessary help, a common theme for people with disabilities is others without disabilities feeling the need to speak for them, do things for them, or otherwise exercise control over their lives. The most important part of the word “self-advocacy” is SELF, so it’s vital to stop and think about whether you might be stepping into your disabled loved ones’ lives more than is beneficial – BEFORE you take action.

We go over something similar to that sentiment in a recent blog focusing on this year’s theme for World Down Syndrome Day, “With Us, Not For Us.” Keep in mind that a lot of the same themes stand throughout many people with disabilities’ lives. To put it simply, the first step is to put your own opinions in second place, and first listen to those who have the lived experience to tell you what they need.

Finally, this website provides a good starting point for people to begin practicing self-advocacy.

Final Thoughts

Here at Adam’s Camp, creating the needed space for people with disabilities to advocate for themselves is something we work towards every day. Through unique adventure and therapy programs and the help of committed counselors, therapists, and volunteers, Adam’s Camp strives to realize the potential and develop the strengths of children, youth, and adults with disabilities. Opportunities for self-advocacy are a crucial aspect of this goal.

And, as a final note for this month’s blog, one of our favorite events of the year is coming up quickly! Taking place accordingly during National Golf Month, our 18th Annual Adam’s Camp Classic Golf Tournament is less than two weeks away. We can’t wait to see everyone there!

The Silent Auction for this event opened on August 7, and you can view and bid on items here!