Advocacy

is learning to speak up for yourself. If you don’t make choices for yourself, someone else probably will, and you may wish they had made different choices. We can help you to express your choices in ways that others will hear and respect you.

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What is Self-Advocacy?

No one knows your life experiences, your needs, and your feelings better than you. Therefore, no one is better qualified to advocate for your needs than you! Self-advocacy is just that: representing one’s interests and needs. Unfortunately, many people have barriers that make it difficult at first to advocate for themselves. Someone may have difficulty communicating, while others may have an anxiety disorder that makes it difficult for them to talk to people in positions of authority. Whatever the barrier, self-advocacy is an integral component of the independent living philosophy.

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Many of our staff members have disabilities, and as such, they have first-hand experience in learning how to self-advocate. Our staff can assist our consumers with becoming their self-advocates largely because they have been through it themselves.​​​

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Advocacy Issues

​As a community of individuals with disabilities, there are many issues in our lives that we share difficulties with. These greater issues that face most of us are what we want to focus on in terms of advocacy. Advocacy is defined as “public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy”. Here you will find information on various topics that we help to address as advocacy for the community of individuals with disabilities.

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Success Story: Christina Holtzclaw talked with the city for two years to get this Blind Pedestrian Crossing sign on Broad Street in Rome.