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The website that I found I feel can be used in a lot of ways. I think that you can easily give this to families to learn about advocacy so that thy can help their student. Especially as they go into the stages of transitioning there are things that need to happen outside of school and it is important that the entire family understand advocating for themselves. This is also on the easier side of reading that I feel you could give it to most students and the would be able to learn why this tool is important to them.
https://www.understood.org/en/friends-feelings/empowering-your-child/self-advocacy/the-importance-of-self-advocacy

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This website I had found is a great way for students to learn about self-advocacy. It also touches base on how parents can encourage their children to become self-advocates
http://www.ncwd-youth.info/publications/youth-in-action-becoming-a-stronger-self-advocate/

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One resource I found was from autismspeaks.org. On their website, they offer an Advocacy Toolkit for anyone who would like more information on teaching advocacy skills to individuals with disabilities. This toolkit was great because it was broken down into different sections first teaching students what is self-advocacy and why is it important. Then it is broken down into different areas of advocacy such as family, school, and community. One area that I felt was important was the need for families to include children with disabilities in decisions that impact them. While this toolkit is more geared towards families and parents of children with disabilities it is also great for teachers to use.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/Advocacy%20Tool%20Kit.pdf

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I found this great website that has so much information for parents and students about Self-Advocacy! This would be a great tool for teachers to use to learn more about Self-Advocacy and to give to future parents/students. Here, you’ll find quick connections to materials and resources you can use with youth with disabilities and their families to build their abilities to advocate for themselves. Items marked with ** are designed to be parent-friendly. All the materials found on the CPIR Hub have been created and archived for Parent Centers around the country to help them provide support and services to the families they serve.

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The Parent Center network has a common list of 14 priority topics we are expected to address. The list comes to us from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education.

Welcome to the Hub page that focuses on the priority topic of "best practices in self-advocacy skills building." Here, you'll find quick connections to materials and resources you can use with youth with disabilities and their families to build their abilities to advocate for themselves. Items marked with ** are designed to be parent-friendly.

What is Self-Advocacy, and Why is It Important?

Wrightslaw answers these two questions quite succinctly, so we're going to quote from them. Speaking directly to those with disabilities but relevant to all of us:

What is Self-Advocacy?
Self-Advocacy is learning how to speak up for yourself, making your own decisions about your own life, learning how to get information so that you can understand things that are of interest to you, finding out who will support you in your journey, knowing your rights and responsibilities, problem solving, listening and learning, reaching out to others when you need help and friendship, and learning about self-determination.

Why is Self-Advocacy Important?
So that you have the knowledge needed to succeed and are given the chance to participate in decisions that are being made about your life.

Parents may need some orientation to this topic, too. Here's one such resource.

Training Video on Self-Determination.
Especially for parents (25 minutes) | Available in English and Spanish.
Do you want to help your child with a disability live an included and productive life? Your son or daughter needs self-determination skills such as making choices, setting goals, and self-advocacy. The Self-Determination video will provide you with a foundation of how to teach these skills to your son or daughter. Also available in Spanish (Cómo ayudar a nuestros hijos a desarrollar su auto determinación). From the Utah Parent Center.

Resources for Youth Themselves

There are resources about self-advocacy for parents, families, and service providers, but what about resources that speak directly to the young person with a disability? Fortunately, there are many. We've listed a few starters below (believe us, there are more!). Access them, share them, use them with young people with disabilities.

Learn about Self-Advocacy: Speaking Up.
For youth with intellectual disabilities.
This resource-rich website pairs minimal text with short, step-by-step video clips of youth themselves talking about self-advocacy. Includes a to help youth identify self-advocacy groups in their state. Lots ofvideo stories from self-advocates on key topics such as the ADA, education, jobs, health, home, and self-determination.

Youth in Action! Becoming a Stronger Self-Advocate.
Speaking directly to young adults with disabilities, this resource defines self-advocacy, describes why it's important, and suggests 4 steps to becoming a stronger self-advocacy. Youth-friendly, brief, to the point, this resource is a product of the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth).

Youthhood.org.
Youthhood is a not-to-be-missed website for youth. This fun and engaging site will remind students with disabilities that they are not alone as they explore community and build a future. It's chock-full of great resources and information. Introduce young people to the site by starting with "What Can I Do Here?"

Self-Advocacy: Find the Captain in You!
Video (10 minutes) | A funny and fun way to introduce self-advocacy to young people with disabilities.
Follow two hosts with dry humor on their morning news talk show, Midday In The Valley, as they explore and discover the powerful force of a term called: Self Advocacy. Covering two interviews and speaking with their ever helpful side kick, Captain Self Advocacy (yes he is really wearing tights!), they come to understand why understanding what you're good at, what you need assistance with, and how to effectively communicate with people in life is very important for everyone, especially youth with disabilities. Remember: Nothing About You Without You!

Speak Up! Using What You've Got to Get What You Want
Engaging multimedia tool that easily guides youth through training.
This tool helps youth with disabilities learn how to speak up and advocate for themselves. With this tool, they can map out personal goals, learn about their rights and responsibilities, learn the best way to ask for help, and get organized.

Fact Sheets, Toolkits, and Training Materials on Self-Advocacy

Oh, where to start, and what to list? There's an amazing amount of materials out there designed to help schools and families prepare young people with disabilities to advocate for themselves. In fact, many more than we will list here. We know you haven't got all day, so start with these resources and see how they fit your learning and training needs.

Whose Future Is It Anyway? (2nd edition)
Subtitled "A Student-Directed Transition Planning Process," Whose Future Is It Anyway? helps prepare students for their IEP meetings and gain self-determination skills through six sections that contain 36 lesson sessions. The lesson package comes with a Coach's Guide that outlines the lessons, how to teach them, the roles of the students and teachers, as well as expected outcomes.

Building Self-Advocacy and Self-Care Management Skills.
Here's a handy list of suggestions and insights for parents to build their youth's self-advocacy skills at home, especially with respect to health care and management. There are several videos, too.

My Health, My Choice, My Responsibility.
My Health, My Choice, My Responsibility is an 8-session curriculum-based group training program focusing on advocating for healthy choices on a daily basis. The emphasis is on gaining knowledge to make informed choices and the skills and tools needed to speak up for good health. Topics include being a self-advocate at medical appointments, physical activity, nutrition, being safe and healthy at home, and feelings. Participants learn the material through discussions, exercises, and visual aids. The link above will take you to a subsection, where you'll need to scroll down a bit to find the curriculum (go just past "Online Videos").

Personal Preferences Indicator: A Guide for Planning.
For use with individuals with significant developmental disabilities | Available in English and Spanish.
This is a tool to assist in planning with and for a person with a developmental disability. It's a guide, not a checklist, for accessing information about the person's preferences across 7 domain areas. The items are used as cues or prompts for discussing with the person or their family/friends the important considerations in developing a plan of support. Domains explored include the individual's favorites, emotions, socialization, self-determination, physical self, health, and family roles. Also available inSpanish | Los Indicatores de Preferencias Personales: Una Guía para Planear.

Resources in the Parent Center Network

In the Driver's Seat: Six Workshops to Help with Transition Planning and Self Advocacy for Youth with Special Needs.
From the Vermont Family Network, In the Driver's Seat is a series of six workshops for youth in transition from high school to adult life. Although this curriculum is suitable for all students, it was developed for students with special needs particularly those with development disabilities. During the workshops, youth experience hands-on learning that helps them achieve adult, life goals. With encouragement and support, young adults identify their skills, interests, and needs, and work toward improving their ability to self
advocate.

Dude, Where's my Transition Plan?
Includes checklists you can use with youth.
Speaking directly to youth with disabilities, this 28-page booklet comes from PEATC, the PTI for Virginia. In addition to multiple transition planning worksheets, the booklet also includes several checklists and discussions of self-advocacy.

Resources in Other Languages

Cómo ayudar a nuestros hijos a desarrollar su auto determinación.
¿Desea ayudar a su hijo(a) con discapacidad a tener una vida productiva y una vida de inclusión en su comunidad? Su hijo(a) necesitará desarrollar habilidades de auto determinación, tales como establecer metas, cómo tomar decisiones, y habilidades de auto abogacía. Este video sobre la auto determinación servirá de fundamento para enseñarles estas habilidades.

__________

Have a resource you'd like to recommend?
It's hard to find information in other languages about how to use data to advance school reform efforts. If you know of a resource that'd be helpful to other Parent Centers and the families they serve, please share the news with Lisa Küpper, product development coordinator, at the CPIR: lkupper@fhi360.org. Thanks!

Don't Forget to Search the Hub!!

Since this Priority Page was originally created, we've added many " Self-Advocacy" resources to the Hub library. These are easy to find! Just use the link below:
https://www.parentcenterhub.org/category/topics/self-advocacy

There's a SORT BY drop-down menu above the resources that will be listed. Set the drop-down to " Date (Newest)." And there you'll have the latest resources on self-advocacy!

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Best Practices in Self-Advocacy Skill Building

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The Parent Center network has a common list of 14 priority topics we are expected to address. The list comes to us from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education. Welcome to the Hub page that focuses on the priority topic of "best practices in self-advocacy skills building."

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The resource I found was https://adayinourshoes.com/self-advocacy-iep-goals/ which was created by Lisa Lightner. The checklist for self advocacy can be one of the pieces of information that can be used from this article. It also has a lot of information that can be referred to when looking at adding self-advocacy goals to an IEP. It also provides an IEP formula on how to make goals measurable which can be a useful tool for teachers as well.

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This is something we use at my school. The students fill out this form every 2 weeks. We have something called Advisement, where the students get about 13 minutes to review ways to be successful in school and life. Every two weeks the student fill out this form with their teachers. The teachers help the students log on to their infinite campus or look it up for them to help complete the sheet. The students then get a chance to set short term goals for themselves. They review their goals with a teacher to make sure their goals match their present level. Goals and progress are reviewed every two weeks to make sure they are on track. These can be brought into IEP meetings to help explain a students present levels and goals for themselves. If done correctly, it can be very beneficial to each student and their plan.

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I found an article that talks about explicitly instructing and teaching self-advocacy skills. The article breaks down self-determination and self-advocacy by comparing these two terms and then going into ways to teach self-advocacy. Some strategies and techniques are mentioned in the article for teachers to consider when teaching self-advocacy.

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By Mary Land and Cheryll Duquette
Self-Determination

Self-determination stems from the notion of empowerment (Pennell, 2001), and Pocock and his associates (2002) explain that self-determination is knowledge about one's strengths and limitations. They contend that it is necessary to foster a belief in oneself as capable, effective, and successful. Self-determination is also described as the extent to which a person assumes responsibility for his or her own goals, accomplishments, and setbacks (Ward, 1988).

Self-determination is considered essential for adolescents with learning disabilities (LDs) to achieve successful transition to postsecondary education and employment (Durlak, Rose, & Bursuck, 1994; Merchant & Gajar, 1997; Zhang, 2001) and is associated with greater quality of life and positive adult outcomes (Wehmeyer & Schwartz, 1997).

Self-Advocacy

Although self-advocacy is a related term and is often used interchangeably with self-determination (Field, 1996); it is generally considered to be a key component of self-determination (Mishna, Muskat, Farnia, & Wiener, 2011; Wehmeyer & Berkobien, 1991). Self-advocacy is defined by Kotzer and Margalit (2007) as the ability to speak on one's behalf and represent personal needs and interests. It involves understanding one's learning strengths and developing the ability to communicate learning needs and required accommodations (Merchant & Gajar, 1997). According to Mishna and her colleagues (2011), self-advocacy is especially important for students with LDs, and is necessary to achieve maturity, confidence, and a sense of identity (Phillips, 2001).

While in school, students with LDs often rely on parents and teachers to make choices for them and to advocate on their behalf (Mishna et al., 2011; Zhang, 2001). They may not be aware of their strengths because previous experiences may have been too focused on their learning weaknesses (Vogel & Adelman, 1993). As well, learning disabilities are a 'hidden disability' and some people may perceive individuals with LDs as unsuited for postsecondary education or limited in employment choices (Egly, 1987).

Self-advocacy skills are regarded as a means of helping adolescents adjust to making decisions on their own and speaking out about their academic needs (Field, Sarver, & Shaw, 2003; Phillips, 2001). However, only a few adolescents with LDs acquire self-advocacy skills without instruction (Michaels, 1994). Schools, therefore, are viewed as an ideal venue to teach and practice these important skills (Mishna et al., 2011).

Teaching Self-Advocacy

Self-advocacy skills include (Durlak et al., 1994; Merchant & Gajar, 1997; Walker & Test, 2011):

1. knowledge of academic strengths and weaknesses,

2. an awareness of required accommodations and services that are available,

3. knowledge of individual rights, and

4. the ability to request information, assistance, and accommodations when required.

They should be taught explicitly and practiced in school settings, such as at individual education plan (IEP) meetings (Van Ruesen & Bos, 1994; Kotzer & Margalit, 2007) or when requesting accommodations (Durlak et al., 1994; Prater et al., 2014). Teachers in high school classrooms usually deliver instruction on self-advocacy skills; however, research shows that they may be taught to students with LDs in middle school (Mishna et al., 2011) and in an online format (Kotzer & Margalit, 2007; Lancaster, Schumaker, & Deshler, 2002).

Self-Advocacy in IEP Participation

In a study by Van Reusen and Bos (1994), high school students with LDs received self-advocacy strategy instruction on how to prepare for and participate in an IEP conference. These conferences are similar to Ontario's Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) meetings. Within this study, students from two high schools and their parents were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups. The contrast group (n=10) was provided with an informal group discussion about the procedures and goals of an IEP conference. It lasted approximately 2 h and was held outside of regular school time. The treatment group (n=11) participated in a similar discussion, but the students with LDs also received an additional three, 50-minute sessions delivered over three consecutive days to groups of 3 to 5 students during school hours.

Researchers provided explicit instruction in the use of the IEP participation strategy (IPARS). Students were taught to:

I - Inventory their strengths and needs

P - Provide this inventory information during the IEP conference

A - Ask questions

R - Respond to questions

S - Summarize the IEP goals

These skills were practiced in an IEP meeting that followed soon after the training.

The researchers reported that there was a significant difference in the number of goals identified by the two groups. The treatment group averaged almost five goals, whereas the contrast group averaged three goals. There were also significant differences between the two groups for verbal contributions during the conference that were related to describing learning strengths and weaknesses. The researchers concluded, therefore, that this type of strategy instruction is beneficial to adolescents with LDs and can increase their participation and self-advocacy during an IEP meeting.

Using Technology to Teach Self-Advocacy Skills

While the IPARS technique proved to be helpful, it also required a large investment of instructional time (to teach and practice each component of the technique). Lancaster, Schumaker, and Deshler (2002) investigated the use of an interactive hypermedia (IH) program that would reduce the amount of teacher time needed to teach self-determination skills. IH is a computer program that can include video and audio segments, texts, graphics, and animation, and it responds to the learner with individualized feedback and controls learners' movement through the program based on their progress.

In this study of 22 students with LDs, six in a control group received no instruction, eight students were given live instruction by a teacher, and eight students used interactive hypermedia to learn about self-advocacy skills. The skills in this program had two separate components: SHARE and IPLAN.

The SHARE technique steps were:

Once these skills had been learned, instruction in the IPLAN steps began:

The IPLAN steps were based on an earlier model of strategy training developed by Van Reusen, Deshler, and Schumaker (1989) and are similar to the IPARS approach described above. Students in both the IH and live groups had opportunities to practice the skills with a teacher before their IEP meetings.

Data analyzed after the IEP meetings showed that the IH program involving a small amount of teacher instruction (one hour) was just as effective as the live instruction (three hours). In both cases, there were substantial increases in student responses, sharing information (e.g., strengths, weaknesses, learning and testing preferences, and goals), and participation in the IEP process after receiving these interventions. This study demonstrated that self-advocacy skills designed for IEP meeting participation can be taught using a computer program.

Explicit Instruction for IEP Conferences

Procedures to instruct self-advocacy skills for IEP/IPRC meetings:

Orientation stage - An overview of the strategy is provided.

Describe stage - Discuss the IEP/IPRC process and available services and accommodations, describe the major behaviours associated with the strategy, and provide a rationale for each step.

Model and Prepare stage - Participants complete the inventory form (learning strengths, weaknesses, and preferences; interests), the next steps in the strategy are modeled, and good and poor examples of the behavior are discussed.

Verbal Rehearsal stage - Participants memorize and elaborate on their understanding of the steps in the strategy and the behaviours.

Strategy Practice and Feedback stage - Participants are given a brief overview of the IEP conference and participate in a simulated conference, feedback is provided.

Generalization stage - Just before the IEP/IPRC meeting, there is a discussion of how these steps could be used in other situations, steps in the strategy are reviewed, and answers to questions that would be asked in the IEP are practiced. (Adapted from Ellis, Deshler, Lenz, Schumaker, & Clark, 1991)

Self-Advocacy when Requesting Accommodations

Students with LDs should be aware of their learning profiles and encouraged to participate in the IEP/IPRC process. They also need to learn to self-advocate for the accommodations written on their IEPs (Prater, Redman, Anderson, & Gibb, 2014). The work of Prater and her associates (2014) outlines specific lesson plans that were designed to teach self-advocacy skills, and in particular, the FESTA steps for requesting instructional accommodations.

Students are taught to:

F - Face the teacher

E - Maintain eye contact

S - State the accommodation they require and the reason they are asking for it

T - Thank the teacher

A - Use the accommodation

In their research, a series of four, 80-minute lessons were taught to three classes of high school students with LDs on alternate days. The lessons followed a direct instruction format: use of a verbal advance organizer outlining the objectives of the day, the teacher models the skill and students practice, corrective feedback is provided to students, and the teacher discusses how the skill could help them improve their school work. The classes ranged from 8 to 15 students and four of the participants were followed for observation when requesting accommodations in general education classes.

The data revealed that the four students requested every accommodation they needed, but did not always follow the FESTA steps. Their teachers noted anecdotally that the students became more confident in their abilities and participated more frequently in the classroom following the self-advocacy instruction.

Durlak, Rose, and Bursuck (1994) also examined the effect of a training program designed to instruct high school students with LDs how to request accommodations. In their study, eight high school students were divided into two groups for training. Each group received twice weekly, then weekly, direct instruction on seven self-awareness and self-advocacy skills. The participants were able to practice and receive feedback individually within the sessions, and they all used the skills in non-training settings in the high school. Although none of the analyses of the pre- and post-test measures was statistically significant, the students all acquired the skills as a result of the direct instruction provided.

However, the researchers noted that the students felt some discomfort discussing their learning disabilities and accommodations. They therefore recommended that students with LDs receive repeated practice describing their learning disabilities and communicating clearly the required accommodations in order to become more comfortable and confident when discussing them with instructors or service providers.

Explicit Instruction for Requesting Accommodations

Procedures for teaching how to request accommodations:

The teacher describes the target behavior while the students follow on the printed material.

The students are taught the vocabulary to use when describing their learning disabilities to ensure clarity in their communication.

The teacher assumes the role of a student and demonstrates the behavior with the paraprofessional playing the role of the teacher or service provider.

The teacher gives students the opportunity to ask questions or clarify specific points.

The students rehearse the steps in describing their learning disabilities and requesting accommodations.

Peers and staff provide immediate feedback.

Students repeat the steps until mastery is demonstrated.

Students then practice requesting accommodations in their classes. (Adapted from Durlak, et al., 1994)

Summary of the level of evidence

A comprehensive search was conducted to find research that involved self-advocacy or self-determination strategies for students with LDs. Articles from peer-reviewed literature were read to identify studies that involved either an experimental design with a control or comparison group, or a single-subject design. Some studies were related to self-advocacy skills that could be used in IEP meetings and others focused on strategies for requesting accommodations in regular education classrooms.

Related Resources on the LD@school Website

Click here to access the article Supporting the Development of Self-Advocacy.

Click here to access the article A Teacher's Journey with Student Self-Advocacy.
Click here to access the response to the question What does a student need to know about learning disabilities in order to be a self-advocate? Click here to access the video Our Self-Advocacy Pamphlet Journey.
Click here to access the tip sheet for Fostering Self-Advocacy.

Click here to access the podcast Supporting Students on their Self-Advocacy Journey.
Click here to access the podcast The Journey to Becoming a Self-Advocate: Three Students' Perspectives.
References

Durlak, C., Rose, E., & Bursuck, W. (1994). Preparing high school students with learning disabilities for the transition to postsecondary education: Teaching the skills of self-determination. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27(1), 51-59.

Egly, N. (1987). Self-advocacy and assertiveness for the disabled college student and how to use self-advocacy skills. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 286 311. University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Ellis, E., Deshler, D., Lenz, B., Schumaker, J., & Clark, F. (1991). An instructional model for teaching learning strategies. Focus on Exceptional Children, 23(6), 1-24.

Field, S. (1996). Self-determination instructional strategies for youth with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(1), 40-52.

Field, S., Sarver, M., & Shaw, S. (2003). Self-determination: A key to success in postsecondary education for students with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 24(6), 339-349.

Kotzer, E., & Margalit, M. (2007). Perception of competence: risk and protective predictors following an e-self-advocacy intervention for adolescents with learning disabilities. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 22(4), 443-457.

Lancaster, P., Schumaker, J., & Deshler, D. (2002). The development and validation of an interactive hypermedia program for teaching a self-advocacy strategy to students with disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 25(4), 277-302.

Merchant, D., & Gajar, A. (1997). A review of the literature on self-advocacy components in transition programs for students with learning disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 8(3), 223-231.

Michaels, C. (1994). Transition strategies for persons with learning disabilities. San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group, Inc.

Mishna, F., Muskrat, B., Farnia, F., & Weiner, J. (2011). The effects of a school-based program on the reported self-advocacy knowledge of students with learning disabilities. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 57(2), 185-203.

Pennell, R. (2001). Self-determination and self-advocacy: Shifting the power. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 11(4), 223-227.

Phillips, P. (2001). A self-advocacy plan for high school students with learning disabilities: A comparative case study analysis of students', teachers', and parents' perceptions of program effects. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23(8), 466-471.

Pocock, A., Lambros, S., Karvonen, M., Test, D., Algozzine, B., Wood, W., & Martin, J. (2002). Successful strategies for promoting self-advocacy among students with LD: The LEAD group. Intervention in School and Clinic, 37(4), 209-216.

Prater, M., Redman, A., Anderson, D., & Gibb, G. (2014). Teaching adolescent students with learning disabilities to self-advocate for accommodations. Intervention in School and Clinic, 49(5), 298-305.

Van Reusen, A., Deschler, D., & Schumaker, J. (1989). Effects of a student participation strategy in facilitating the involvement of adolescents with learning disabilities in the individualized educational program planning process. Learning Disabilities, 1(2), 23-34.

Van Reusen, A., & Bos, C. (1994). Facilitating student participation in individualized education programs through motivation strategy instruction. Exceptional Children, 60(5), 466-475.

Vogel, S., & Adelman, P. (1993). Success for college: Students with learning disabilities. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.

Walker, A. & Test, D. (2011). Using a self-advocacy intervention on African-American college students' ability to request academic accommodations. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 26(3), 134-144.

Ward, M. (1988). The many facets of self-determination. NICHCY Transition summary. National Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities, 5, 2-3.

Wehmeyer, M., & Berkobien, R. (1991). Self-determination and self-advocacy: A case of mistaken identity. The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps Newsletter, 17(7), 4.

Wehmeyer, M., & Schwartz, M. (1997). Self-determination and positive adult outcomes: A follow-up study of youth with mental retardation or learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 63(2), 245-255.

Zhang, D. (2001). The effect of Next S.T.E.P. instruction on the self-determination skills of high school students with learning disabilities. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 24(2), 121-132.

Other Relevant Resources

The CanLearn Society has produced a resource for educators that will help them teach students understand their strengths and needs and how to communicate their needs to others. Click here to view the resource.

Chambers, C., Wehmeyer, M., Saito, Y., Lida, K., Lee, Y., & Singh, V. (2007). Self-determination: What do we know? Where do we go? Exceptionality: A Special Education Journal, 15(1), 3-15.

Kelley, K., Bartholomew, A., & Test, D. (2013). Effects of the self-directed IEP delivered using computer-assisted instruction on student participation in educational planning meetings. Remedial and Special Education 34(2), 67-77.

Representatives from the York Region District School Board and the Learning Disabilities of York Region created a tip sheet to help educators teach their students with learning disabilities how to self-advocate for themselves. Click here to view the tip sheet on the LD@school website.
Cheryll Duquette's research in the area of special education reflects her interest in the experiences of students with exceptionalities in inclusive classrooms. As a former teacher, she focuses particularly on strategies that may be used by classroom teachers to facilitate inclusion. Dr. Duquette is also the author of Students at Risk (2nd ed.), a book containing practical suggestions for working with students with exceptionalities and their parents. She teaches teacher education and graduate courses in special education at the Faculty of Education. Mary Land is currently a graduate student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. She worked for a several years as a high school teacher before returning to pursue graduate studies full-time. Her experiences in the classroom have encouraged her varied interests in the field of education, including literacy and language arts instruction for all students.

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Explicit Instruction of Self-Advocacy Skills

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By Mary Land and Cheryll Duquette Self-Determination Self-determination stems from the notion of empowerment (Pennell, 2001), and Pocock and his associates (2002) explain that self-determination is knowledge about one's strengths and limitations. They contend that it is necessary to foster a belief in oneself as capable, effective, and successful.

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This is a great resource for teachers and paraprofessionals to use with students. Within the information are links to other resources that can be of use, for example, self assessment checklists.

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Help Children Learn How to Self Advocate | OAR

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Too often, young people with disabilities have things done for them that their typical peers do themselves, which they could do as well. These well-intended supports can get in the way of their ability to advocate for themselves. In this week’s blog, an autism specialist, Deborah Hammer, describes t…

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This one is actually for our paraprofessionals that work with a very challenging student and we were encouraging the paras to self advocate for themselves on what the student was doing on a daily basis. We needed the data and moreso, we needed to encourage the paras to tell us what was going on that "they had gotten use to". It took a semester, but the paras are speaking up more and with way more details and asking for help more, especially during the really challenging days - and hours.

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A homework planner for kids that get behind, get overwhelmed and need guidance with a clear plan of what needs done, where to find it, when to do it and who can help them with it. The staff can do it step by step with the student the first few times, and then the student can eventually take over from there to help organize their days, weeks, quarters and/or semesters. My son's 8th grade English teacher  started this worksheet and I chunked it more and tweaked it more so my son could see the list clearly and see the progress as he works on assignments. We used it by the week, and then the month and now that he is a freshman in high school, he uses it for long term projects for the semester, at least that's what he tells me.

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I do not have a ton of experience with self-advocacy right now so I did some digging. I found a great website that would be awesome for students, educators and parents. It tells more about what self-advocacy is and what it looks like. The website provides videos, links, fact sheets, training materials, activities and resources in other languages. Enjoy!
https://www.parentcenterhub.org/priority-selfadvocacy/#youth

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Here is what I found on self advocacy from education.com
Click on the link and it will take you right to it. Education.com has a lot of great items to use, especially in the lower grade levels. It's called. Write a letter to your future self. Give it a look.

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I love Teachers Pay Teachers website. They have a lot of great tools and resources. I am going to drop the direct link to an awesome idea I found on there. So basically it is a flip book that guides them through self advocacy. It is totally customizable so they can create it for their use. I like this because it is small and they can have it with them and grab it and refer back to it when needed! You could also make this on your own without paying. I just loved the idea!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Flip-Books-Bundle-Self-Advocacy-Study-Skills-Vocabulary-4332093

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ME! Lessons for Teaching Self-Awareness and Advocacy.

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ME! Lessons for Teaching Self-Awareness and Advocacy.

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This is the whole kit-and-kaboodle! The website provides an entire unit, with materials in both English and Spanish. Directions on how to present each lesson are also included. This makes it very simple for someone that is new to this way of thinking....promoting independence and advocacy.

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ME! Lessons for Teaching Self-Awareness and Self-Advocacy

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Educators using the ME! Lessons may modify all lesson materials as needed to better meet individual student and teacher needs. The Word documents and PowerPoint presentations can easily be modified by users, or the entire lesson package is available to download in PDF format.

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Here is a PowerPoint called the Self Advocacy Strategy. It contains a lot of great information and steps of self advocacy. It includes inventories, worksheets, model cards, checklists, and guides.

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We use this at our school

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Wendy L. Helfrich                      I subscribed to www.teacherspayteachers.com.  Since I am a former teacher working as paraprofessional, I have not in recent years had a lot of experience with using resources associated with self-advocacy.  I like the attached checklist because when our lead junior high teacher leaves and I try to fill her shoes, I will use this form for students.  I admit, I did pay for it.  It cost $2.11.  I do think it is good one.  See what you think.  I will use this website in the future.  

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Wendy L. Helfrich                      I subscribed to www.teacherspayteachers.com.  Since I am a former teacher working as paraprofessional, I have not in recent years had a lot of experience with using resources associated with self-advocacy.  I like the attached checklist because when our lead junior high teacher leaves and I try to fill her shoes, I will use this form for students.  I admit, I did pay for it.  It cost $2.11.  I do think it is good one.  See what you think.  I will use this website in the future.  

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Here are two different checklists that my cooperating teacher uses. My teachers uses these checklists so the students can see what they struggle with or what they know they need help with so they can inform teachers. My teacher has the students fill this out in case a teacher isn't aware of what they need help with so then they can talk to the teacher about it instead of leaning on their Special Education teacher to talk to them.

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I found a video from the Vermont Family Network on YouTube that shared a great presentation on self-advocacy skills. Although it focuses on self-advocacy in an IEP meeting, I believe a lot of this information can be used in the student's every day life as well. An important point it made was to be sure the student understands his/her strengths and weakness and how to use them to be successful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKQ8LLoLTes&list=UUVroHoQ2QoGgMbDf07ZhpPw&index=20

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Here is a checklist/chart that I made for a student a few years ago. The checklist has both IEP goals listed along with a weekly visual chart for the student to better see his progress. This self-monitoring checklist proved to be very effective. The student and I went over this checklist at least once a week. Having him fill out the chart provided him an opportunity to see what his behavior looked like to others. Any suggestions to make it better or more effective are greatly appreciated.

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Meet Google Drive - One place for all your files

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Google Drive is a free way to keep your files backed up and easy to reach from any phone, tablet, or computer. Start with 15GB of Google storage - free.

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Here is a website that I found called Teaching Self-Advocacy Skills to Students. There is many different tabs that one could go through for additional information some of these include: What is self-advocacy?, Teaching self-advocacy skills, Inclusive classroom activities and Management, Self-Advocacy Without Singling Out Students are just a few of the different links with information that this website has to offer!

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The Transition Coalition is full of many wonderful resources for professional development. I believe you need to create an account to go through the modules but it is free. Under "Training- Mini-modules" you will find one called "Systems Advocacy and Self-Advocacy".

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The Zarrow Center for Learning Enrichment from the University of Oklahoma offers a great guided unit on self-advocacy called Me!

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ME! Lessons for Teaching Self-Awareness and Self-Advocacy

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Educators using the ME! Lessons may modify all lesson materials as needed to better meet individual student and teacher needs. The Word documents and PowerPoint presentations can easily be modified by users, or the entire lesson package is available to download in PDF format.

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While Understood.org is geared to parents, I am a member. They share great articles on many different topics. This link takes you to one on Self-Advocacy with numerous links for more information.

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Self-advocacy is the ability to speak up for what you need.

Being a good self-advocate can help your child academically and socially.

You can help your child develop the skill of self-advocacy at any age, but it's good to start early.

When your child faces challenges, you advocate. You talk with teachers, family members, and others about your child's needs. And you help your child get support in and out of school.

Self-advocacy is a skill that enables kids to understand their strengths and weaknesses, know what they need to succeed, and communicate that to other people.

Self-advocacy can be broken down into a few key elements:

Understanding specific needs. (This is part of self-awareness .)

Knowing what help or support will address those needs, like tutoring or classroom accommodations .

Communicating those needs to teachers and others.

Let's say your child struggles with writing. A history class requires taking a lot of notes for homework. Without some kind of writing support, this is going to be difficult for your child.

Here's an example of self-advocacy in action:

Your child understands that taking notes is going to be a challenge and knows that technology can help with note-taking. So your child communicates to the teacher that writing is a challenge and asks to use a note-taking app.

If the teacher says yes, your child's needs are addressed. If the teacher says no, your child understands to talk to another person, like the special education case manager.

The benefits of self-advocacy

Self-advocacy helps kids learn by creating solutions for challenges in school. In the note-taking example above, the child would do better in class by using technology.

Of course, a parent could also advocate. But when kids self-advocate, there are extra benefits. Kids who exercise self-advocacy can:

Find solutions to challenges parents may not be aware of

Build self-confidence in their ability to learn

Create a sense of ownership over their learning

Develop independence and self-empowerment

The benefits of self-advocacy go beyond academics. Kids who can effectively self-advocate can communicate in social situations and even explain to friends why they sometimes need extra help.

How to build self-advocacy in kids

Because self-advocacy is so important, you may want to take specific steps to help your child build this skill. Here are some ways to help your child develop self-advocacy:

As with any valuable skill, self-advocacy takes practice. Role-play situations that may come up to help your child feel more comfortable about asking for help.

Teaching self-advocacy can be an important part of your own journey as an advocate. Self-advocacy skills can help your child deal with current challenges and the ones that will arise in the future.

Self-advocacy is an important skill that can help your child do better in school and be more independent in the long run.

You can take specific steps to help your child learn self-advocacy.

Self-advocacy isn't easy, but with practice your child can develop this skill over time.

About the Author

About the Author

Andrew M.I. Lee, JD is an editor and attorney who strives to help people understand complex legal, education, and parenting issues.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Bob Cunningham, EdM serves as executive director of learning development at Understood.

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The importance of self-advocacy for kids who learn and think differently

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Self-advocacy is the ability to speak up for what you need. Being a good self-advocate can help your child academically and socially. You can help your child develop the skill of self-advocacy at any age, but it's good to start early. When your child faces challenges, you advocate.

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Here's one more from TPT, that involves the students communicating with their teachers throughout the school year.

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Here's a script for students to use that helps them advocate for themselves when they are faced with a situation they don't like. I found this through TPT.

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Here's one I found through TPT, but is apparently accessible through NCLD.