
Significance of Disability Advocacy
Advocacy aims to give all individuals in society a voice and highlight issues that are significant to them. It helps promote and protect the rights of those who have faced challenges in making their voices heard.
Disability advocacy highlights the basic interests, rights, and needs of individuals with disabilities. Historically, disabled individuals have been neglected, ignored, or subjected to prejudice, ignorance, and abuse. Fortunately, disability advocacy has gained power in the past century and has made an impact in protecting the rights and needs of individuals with disabilities.
Becoming a disability advocate means spreading awareness and protecting your rights and the needs and rights of others living within your community.
What is Disability Advocacy?
In short, it protects and promotes the rights and needs of individuals with disabilities. This can be done by taking specific actions, writing, or speaking about it. The advocacy focuses on assisting individuals with disabilities and other needs to navigate through challenges or complex systems – particularly where their voices have been neglected historically.
Significance of Disability Advocacy
Disability advocacy is integral since individuals with disabilities have been unintentionally or intentionally silenced and infantilized historically by policies, people, and institutions.
While things have gradually changed, there are still many rigid policies and systems that need to adapt. This is where disability advocacy can play a major role.
Giving a voice to individuals with disabilities is essential, allowing them to make decisions about their support and goals. A disability advocate can help individuals with disabilities by:
- Empowering them in making decisions and giving them more control
- Providing relevant information to help them establish goals and manage issues the effect them
- Speaking on their behalf when additional assistance is requested to spread awareness and highlight the problems and needs that persist in the community
- Assisting them in exercising their rights and representing their interests
- Supporting them to obtain the services they need, including health services, social care, and more
Moreover, disability advocacy helps disabled individuals plan and make decisions about the important aspects of their life, including:
- Care and support needs
- Education
- Employment
- Finances
- Health and well-being
- Home
- Parenting role
- Social integration and relationships
Ways to Advocate for Individuals with Disabilities
You can become a disability advocate for individuals with disabilities in multiple ways.
Listen to Them
Nobody is closer to the issues than the individuals who face them day in and day out. Listen.
Understand the Issues
It is essential to be clear about the challenges and issues before you advocate for them.
Understand their Needs
Having a discussion about what they need and ways their issues can be resolved can make a major difference.
Interact with Other Advocates
Understanding how other disability advocates are taking action to help individuals with disabilities can also help you better understand how you can help.
Lobby for Disability Rights
Reaching out to your local policy makers is an important part in changing the status-quo.
Reach Out to Experts
The best way to know how you can be an advocate is to reach out to experts, like medical professionals, physical therapists, mental health counselors, and more, to determine the common problems and the right solutions.
Tips to Assist Children in Advocating for Themselves
The best way forward is in teaching individuals with disabilities about self-advocacy. The earlier one learns, the better equipped a person will be to manage their lives and make decisions that feel right. This is why helping children learn ways to advocate for themselves is so important.
Many children learn to voice their needs, but self-advocacy can be hard for children if they struggle to communicate their needs in stressful situations. Therefore, assisting them is ideal. There are times when all of us struggle to communicate our needs, after all, and could use additional support.
Here are some tips to help children learn to advocate for themselves:
- Give age-appropriate responsibilities to build confidence.
- Encourage them to speak up if they feel something is wrong. This can be done by sharing stories with them about children standing up for themselves when there is a need.
- Engage in active listening. Listening to what they say and what they are interested in indicates that you care.
- Make them feel understood and heard by repeating what they told you. Some kids may struggle with communication and require assistance expressing themselves.
- Find creative ways to help them speak up and share their views. For instance, encourage them to write a script or draw something to express their thoughts when they are unable to voice them out loud.
If children or adults with disabilities face negative consequences from self-advocacy, it is integral to show your support and fight alongside them for their rights. Reach out to the people creating a problem to discuss the matter and explain how they can help improve the situation.
We all deserve dignity and respect.
Wrapping Up
Individuals with disabilities often face multiple mental health issues due to the lack of proper advocacy and support. One of the best ways to be an advocate is to encourage them to reach out to professionals to get support to navigate through challenging times.
Our team at Adam’s Camp is eager to lend our voices in support of disability advocates and provide the support and community that individuals with disabilities are entitled to.
We can all add our strength to the fight for equality and help ensure that ALL voices are heard.
Take a look at these Advocacy organizations to get started!
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AADP)
This organization is a national cross-disability rights organization. They advocate for full civil rights for all disabled Americans by promoting equal opportunity, economic power, independent living, and political participation.
Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (CCDC)
This Colorado-based organization seeks to advocate for social justice for people with all types of disabilities by working with individuals, service providers, businesses, and government agencies to ensure that people with disabilities have equal rights and equal access.