Self-Advocacy: The Power to Get What You Need

Self-Advocacy is defined as, "a set of skills that enables people with disabilities to effectively communicate their needs to others and get those needs met." This can range from telling others what you like or what you are interested in doing, to telling your boss the work accommodations you need to do your job successfully. 

Self-Advocacy Across the Lifespan

Self-Advocacy for Elementary Students

Elementary school students with ASD can work on self-advocacy skills in a variety of areas. When trying to determine which skills to address for a particular student, look toward their same age peers. How do typical elementary school students demonstrate self-advocacy? Elementary school students learn appropriate ways to get adult/authority attention like raising their hand or calling a teacher's name. They learn when and who to ask for help, to tell someone if they are sick, to demonstrate knowledge by giving a correct answer in class, and to appropriately share opinions with friends. Students with ASD should address these same skills, in the way that is most appropriate for them. For example, after students can use a word, sign, or picture to request "help" we can teach them to then give more specific information about the kind of help they need such as "I don't understand" or "Open this please." Given more specific requests to others is an important step toward self-advocacy.