CT-DAC Advocacy

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Enhancing the effectiveness of disability activism in Connecticut by organizing and empowering individuals, families, groups, and organizations.

Advocacy Tools

SELF-ADVOCACY is simply the tool or skill that enables us to ask for what we want and need so that we can have the quality of life we wish for and the connections with people in our communities we desire. Advocacy and self-advocacy are variously described as the ability to speak for oneself and one’s own needs, a way of encouraging assertiveness and decision-making, making informed decisions and taking responsibility for those decisions. The term is also used to define a social movement or struggle by people with disabilities to assert their legal and civil right to choose and control the services they receive, fight discrimination and become empowered to make their own decisions. These basic tenets are not disability-specific. Indeed, they pertain to every one of us.

Links

A CHRONOLOGY OF THE DISABILITY RIGHTS MOVEMENTS

The following Office of Protection and Advocacy publications are designed to inform consumers about their rights and to offer strategies for solving individual problems: http://www.ct.gov/opapd/cwp/view.asp?a=1756&q=277262

This link to The Council for Disability Rights answers Frequently Asked Questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): http://www.disabilityrights.org/adatoc.htm

This national webpage of Kids As Self Advocates (KASA) gives a list of advocacy tips: http://www.fvkasa.org/resources/civil-tips.html

Freedom Clearinghouse has used HCFA's Guidelines to develop a Blueprint for advocates to use as they meet with other "stakeholders" to develop their State Plan for implementing the Olmstead decision, which called for states to provide its services in the "most integrated setting" appropriate: http://www.freedomclearinghouse.org/spblueprint.htm

Partners in Policymaking® is a training program to teach parents and self-advocates the power of advocacy to change the way people with disabilities are supported, viewed, taught, live and work. Several e-courses are available for no registration fee: http://www.partnersinpolicymaking.com

A fact sheet on Self-Advocacy from the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (Formerly AAMR): http://www.aamr.org/Policies/faq_advocacy.shtml

The Riot is a quarterly newsletter for Self-Advocates from the Self-Advocate Leadership Network at Human Services Research Institute: http://www.hsri.org/leaders/theriot

Reflecting input from over 100 national disability organizations, the Guidelines for Reporting and Writing about People with Disabilities explain preferred terminology and offer suggestions for appropriate ways to describe people with disabilities. Although opinions may differ on some terms, the Guidelines represent the current consensus among disability organizations and is available here: http://www.lsi.ku.edu/lsi/internal/guidelines.html

DISCLAIMER: Inclusion of an event, article or legislative initiative does not imply endorsement by CDAC, nor can CDAC guarantee that all information provided is accurate or current.

The Collaborative is supported by a grant the CT Disability Advocacy Collaborative received from the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities. In addition, in-kind support is being provided by the UConn Center on Disability, and Communitas, Inc. serves as the project’s fiscal agent. To all three we extend our appreciation.